Fighting for LoVe
by jaymelynn143
Summary: AU:Veronica witnesses Felix's death at Thumpers hand, but goes on the run. She leaves everything behind to keep those she loves safe. Yet, even well laid out plans fall apart.
1. Chapter 1

A/N: I know I said I was working on _Redeeming LoVe_ , but I have hit a block with it. This little story came to mind and I decided to write it out. I always wanted to see Logan be innocent in the bridge thing from the get go.

Fighting for LoVe

Chapter 1: Leaving it all Behind

 **Veronica**

I couldn't believe it yet. I mean Aaron Echolls murdered by best friend and tried to burn me alive. I mean I knew I was noisy and all, but I couldn't believe he stuck me in a refrigerator and was trying to kill me as my father found me. He risked his own life to save me. I came to the ER with him. Sacks told me that a Deputy had brought my dad's car to the hospital for me. I thanked him as I called Alicia and let her know what had happened. I knew calling my mom was out of the question.

I knew after calling Alicia to stay with my dad I needed to find Logan. I wanted to explain to him how sorry I was for doubting him, that it was his father that was guilty. I was headed over the Coronado Bridge when I saw his big yellow X-terra; I even saw a group of bikers around him. I pulled out my cell, and put it on the dashboard to tape everything that was happening. I watched in horror as one of the bikers stabbed the other one who was kicking Logan still. I didn't see the Fitzpatrick's until it was too late. I was being pulled out of the car as soon as I stopped. I saw Logan and another boy on the cement. They were both bloodied. I kept the cell phone pointed to the front of the car. 

"Liam look what we got here," one of the lackeys says as I feel a hand sliding up my arm. I shudder as I see a truck coming our way blaring his horn. The guys all begin to scramble getting on their bikes or cars. 

"Take care of this, Thumper," Liam says as he peels out leaving Thumper pissed and coming right at me. 

"Everyone alright," the man in the truck says as Logan begins to move, and I am gasping for air. 

"Call the cops and tell them there has been a murder," I say as the man runs off. I help Logan to his SUV; I use my shirt to pick up the dropped knife. "Logan go home, I'll see you later," I say as I drop the bloodied knife into a baggie and watch both men leave. I write out a note letting Lamb know what happened and I took off. I headed home, but before I got there I saw Molly hiding near my apartment. 

"Veronica, you need to get out of town," she says as she follows me up the stairs to my apartment. 

"Molly, I am going to go inside and go to bed," I say trying to cut her off. 

"Liam has put a price on your head. He did the same thing with Felix and look where he is now," she says with tears in her eyes. "I got you as much cash as I could, please," she pleads as I quickly go inside and change my clothes. I see my mom looking around in my dad's room. I tell her she needs to leave because she no longer belongs with us; that I knew she was still drinking. She tried to plead with me, but I told her I took my chances with her when I used my college fund to get her help and she wasted it.

Once she is out the door I pack a bag and place everything I might need inside it. I take a few photos of my dad and me, some of the fab4, my laptop, camera and anything I might need.  
I got into my dad's car and drove to Logan's house. I needed to make sure he was okay. As I arrived at the gates to his home I hated how the vultures have descended on him. I punch in the code to get in and drive through the gate. I park my car next to his; I look inside to see if he had made it inside. 

"Logan," I call out as I enter into his home for the last time. 

"Ronnie," he whispers as I see his silhouette on the couch. I make my way over to him. I really hadn't looked at him on the bridge, but he was beaten pretty badly. 

"Oh Logan what did they do to you!" I ask softly kissing his lips. 

"You were so adamant about my guilt so I did the only thing I could. I got drunk," he mutters. I allowed him to caress my face softly because if I was being honest with myself I was so glad he was alive. 

"I'm sorry Logan," I say as I truly look at him for the person he has been to me not the past jackass he was. Logan is truly a rare breed, he loves and hates with the same passion. "I shouldn't have doubted you," I mutter as he looks up at me.

"Yeah, I heard they caught the jerk who did it though. Do you know anything about that Ronnie?" he questions as the tears in my eyes begins to sting.

"It was Aaron," I say as I see him look up at me with such raw emotion that I could have sworn he would see right through me.

"I heard that. Weevil was so mad at me. He said he overheard you talking to your dad about me," he says as I stop him with my lips. I didn't want to talk anymore. "I need you so bad," Logan says as he deepens our kiss. I go to straddle him. "I'm sorry too, he hurt you and your dad," he mutters angrily. I freeze as I hear his words. 

"I'm sorry," I say as I lay my head in the crook of his neck wrapping my arms around his neck. 

"Bygones," he says holding me closely and tightly to him. "Come to bed," he says softly as I stand up. He takes my hand and leads me to his room. I help him clean up and change. He tosses me a shirt as I remove my clothes. 

"I love you," I blurt out to him as he looks at me. The sincerity in my voice causes him to trail kisses over my neck to my lips. 

"I love you so much," he says as he deepens the kiss. I knew what I would do next wasn't the right thing, but I needed him to know how much he meant to me. That my words weren't as hollow as they might have sounded. I didn't even know if I would ever see him again. 

"Logan make love to me," I say as he looks at me questioningly. I was being selfish in this action, but I wanted to leave him with how much I loved him. I hated doing this, but he was the person who meant more to me than life right now. It scared me that as much as I loved my dad, Logan held a part of my heart as well. I had never even given that to Duncan. 

Logan took his time kissing every inch of my body as he removed my clothing. I watched as his chest muscles flexed from his movements. I would love to wrap him up and keep him with me, but it would be too dangerous. I let a tear fall from my eye as he kisses it away. 

"Ronnie, you okay," he asks softly. 

"Yeah I finally am," I say as I close the gap between us. The movement causes him to enter me. The intrusion feels foreign, and my heart begins to race as the morning after Shelly's party flashes through my mind. I push it aside to enjoy the warmth and love I feel as Logan pushes me higher and higher. My whole body feels like it's about to explode as I feel his release and then mine. We are both breathing hard and fast. Our bodies are slick with sweat as Logan leans to one side pulling me with him. 

"I love you Veronica Mars," he whispers as his breathing goes softer and slower. Logan was a sleep. I slowly freed myself from his arms and redressed. I took the clothes he gave me and one of his sweaters. I quickly wrote him a note, leaving it beside his bed on the nightstand with a glass of water and some aspirin. I pull out my phone and quickly take a photo of him sleeping, as I bend down and kiss his forehead. 

"I love you too, Logan more than I could ever tell you," I say as I leave his bedroom. I leave another note for the police with a flash disk of the video, and a photo of the bloodied knife. I then walk out the door. I go to my dad's car. I get in a drive to the nearest bus station. 

I open the envelope Molly gave me to find it filled with hundreds. I know right now the only choice I had was to do what I thought was right, and running wasn't what I wanted to do. The hour I spent in Logan's arms solidified the decision, to keep those I loved safe I had to leave. Liam was after me, I left Lamb enough evidence to arrest, but I kept the knife because I didn't trust the police to do the right thing. I made sure that if Logan was charged I'd leak the footage to the media. I also had a copy of Lilly's tapes as insurance. 

As the bus I was on passed the 'Leaving Neptune' I let the tears go. I was no better than my mother, I just walked out on everyone I loved; my dad, Logan, and Wallace. I had become the villain in the story. I hoped that my hero would be waiting for me if I ever got the chance to return.


	2. Chapter 2

Fighting for LoVe

Chapter 2: Following After

 **Logan**

I woke up with a lonely feeling in the pit of my stomach, and looked at the clock on my night stand. It was early almost 4:30 in the morning, but when I felt the bed next to me for Veronica I found it empty. The sheets were slightly warm, so she hadn't been gone long. I struggled to get out of bed only to fall back on it. I searched the room for any sign of her and knew she was gone, not just out of the room but gone. I see a sheet of paper on the table next to my bed, it was folded in half. I picked it up and began to read it.

 _Logan,_

 _I don't want to leave things like this, but I have to get away. Everyone I love is in danger because of what I saw on that bridge. I broke up some very bad people who now have put a price on me. I don't want to cause the people I care about any trouble so I am going to go away for a while. I hate doing this, but it's for the best. I hope you never forget just how much I love and care for you. Please stay safe._

 _Veronica_

It takes me a nano second to fold the paper up, and find some clothes. I quickly change into something more comfortable than what I might usually wear. I pack a small bag with everything I might need, and then head to my dad's office. I use the password to the safe and open it. I knew if he knew what I was about to do he would murder me himself, but dire situations called for more than this. I pulled out all the cash in the safe as well as the prepaid credit cards he kept in there in case of having to fly under the radar. I shoved them all in my bag. I had already taken the jewelry I needed from my mom's room.

I called for a cab to take me to the one place I knew she would be. I slowly walked into the bus depot and moved up to the counter. There was an elderly woman working the counter I showed her Veronica's picture and lied about being her brother and how she disappeared making me worry about her. She told me that she had bought three different tickets, but was unsure which bus she got on. I asked for the same tickets and went on my way.

The first bus ticket was to Mexico, as I got on the bus I searched the almost packed bus to see if Veronica was on it, but she wasn't it drove off a few minutes later. The second bus was headed to Arizona, but it was the same thing no Veronica. I walked toward the third bus thinking how this was such a waste of time, until I saw her blonde hair in the window. I knew it was her. I quicken my pace and got on the bus just before it left. We were headed to Las Vegas. I wanted to make my way to her, but decided to wait until we stopped somewhere, not wanting to spook her.

I watched the scenery as the bus drove out of Neptune. I had never thought once what I wanted to do with my life, but at this moment all I could think about was how much it centered on the blonde haired beauty in the back of the bus. I turned slowly in my seat to look toward her to see she was crying, as I was about to go to her the elderly lady seated next to her began talking to her. I watched intently as she nodded her head a few times before returning back to the window.

We were just entering Barstow when the bus pulled into a parking lot. It looked like a small bus depot. I pulled my hoodie on tighter as I watched the people getting off of the bus. I knew that it was headed for Las Vegas, but wasn't sure if that was where Veronica really intended to go.

"Veronica," I mumbled softly as I stood behind her in the line at one of the many little food places.

"Logan," she says as she turns to look at me with tears in her eyes. "This isn't good," she mutters as she pulls me out of the line walking fast outside of the building we were just in.

"Ronnie," I say using her nickname testing her.

"Why did you follow me?" she snaps as I shrug my shoulders. "You weren't supposed to follow me. I left to keep you safe," she is still muttering when I pull her in for a hug.

"I didn't know want you to be all alone. Veronica I can't lose you like I lost Lilly," I say softly as she pulls away from me slowly wiping her eyes on the sleeve of what looks like my hoodie.

"I know that, but this is more dangerous now because you followed me," she says as I see her watching the people filtering back onto the bus. She shakes her head as she pulls her carry on and messenger bag closer to her.

"We'll spend the night here, and get on a different bus tomorrow," she says reaching for my hand as she pulls me toward a CVS store. I followed her in as she went right to the beauty products. I watched her smiling as she pulled a few boxes off the shelf looking the colors over before turning to me. "Which one do you think you can live with?" she asks as I see a strawberry color and a dark brown color.

"The strawberry color," I say as she smiles and hands it off to me before turning back to the colors. She pulls a dark drown color and hands it to me as well. I raise my eye brow at her as she smirks.

"I think you could be hot without those stupid blonde spikes," she murmurs as I realize she just picked out a color for me. I followed her as she grabbed a few lady items and tossed them into the basket. We headed to the food aisle and I picked at some snack items as she grabbed a couple bottles of S'kist. When we got to the cashier I watched as she lowered her head so I did the same. She was moving to pull out some money as I already pulled out a hundred and dropped it on the counter. We walked half a block to a Motel 6, I decided to slip in and get the room all settled to keep her out of it.

"How can I help you?" the older man asks as I walk up to the counter.

"I'd like get a room for the night," I say as he begins pounding on his keyboard. He looks up from the computer and out the window.

"We have a few open rooms. What would you like a single or double?" he questions as he points out the window. I see Veronica leaning up against the wall.

"I'll have a double," I say as I see him clicking a few more keys before pulling a sheet of paper out.

"Mr. Doe, that'll be $79.99," he says handing me the key cards as I pass him one of the prepaid debit cards. I have to smile as I see the name. "You two kids take care," he says softly as I nod my head walking out the door to Veronica.

"Come on, Mrs. Doe," I say as I see her looking up at me strangely. I just chuckle as we walk to the room and I use the key card to open the door. I wait for her to step in before I tell her the story. I flip the TV on as she goes into the bathroom. I am about to fall asleep when she finally emerges with her newly strawberry colored hair. She was actually cuter with it than her blonde hair.

"How does it look?" she questions as I slowly roll over trying not to jar my soar body. I guess the pain was finally coming back.

"I like it," I say as I see her turn around and pull out a small bottle that looked like an aspirin bottle. She opens it and hands me two pills.

"I forgot that you might be sore," she says as I dry down the pills and pull her closer to me.

"I'm fine, just sore," I say snuggling my head into her shoulder. I knew I needed to get up and shower, but I was afraid she would disappear once again.

"You should go shower and then we'll go to sleep," she says handing me the hair dye. I look questioningly at her, but don't want to start with my trust issues already and do what she asks me to do. I grab a t-shirt and a pair of boxers out of my bag and head into the bathroom.

I take my time allowing the hot water to cascade over my achingly sore muscles. I wash my hair and then put the color in as I lean against the shower wall enjoying the warmth as I let the dye set. I am about to fall asleep when I decide to rinse my hair and get out. I dry my body and slip my boxers on as I blow dry my hair I look at how different I look. I pull my shirt over my head and open the bathroom door. As I walk into the small little room I notice what I feared. Veronica was gone. She had left me like I knew she would. I didn't care about the pain in my body as I collapsed on the bed in misery.

A/N: I plan to update once a week, and only that day. I had this chapter already done so I thought I would post it to see how you guys liked the direction I planned to go.


	3. Chapter 3

Fighting for LoVe

Chapter 3: A Fresh Beginning

 **Veronica**

I decided to take the time to do a few things before Logan got out of the shower. I stepped outside of the room and made a call to a moving company to have all of Logan's things moved out of his house. I just felt that this was something he would want done to keep his dad or Trina from destroying his stuff. I made sure to include as much of his mom's stuff as well to protect her legacy for him.

The second call I made was to Wallace asking him to take care of Backup for me because I was staying at Logan's house. Wallace was actually excited to keep my dog since his little brother wanted one and this would give him the practice when he hit his mom up for a dog. I didn't say goodbye to him because I knew one day I would see him again, just not at the moment.

The last call I made was the hardest, but I knew I had to do it or I wouldn't be able to live with myself. I dialed my dad's office number and waited for the machine to kick over. " _Dad, I want you to know I love you very much, more than you could ever imagine. I had to go away, but it wasn't because you were a bad dad, but because I got myself into some trouble that I don't think I can get myself out of at the moment. Take care of Alicia she really cares for you. I love you_ ," I say as I hang up the phone keeping myself from falling apart.

I head back to the motel room knowing Logan was probably done with his shower and waiting for me. I looked carefully around to see if anyone was following me and then took the long way around back to the motel where I slipped the key into the door. I opened the door expecting Logan to be up and waiting for me but I was taken back when I saw him. He looked like he was physically in pain.

"Logan," I say softly as I walk toward him. He doesn't open his eyes as I sit down on the bed next to him. "Logan, hey you need to wake up," I say as I pull on his arm that was covering his forehead. His eyes opened and blinked as I saw the fear in them. I didn't understand why he would look like that as he began to sit up.

"You left me," he mumbled as I felt his hands on my shoulder as if he was checking to see if I was real or not.

"I went to make a few phone calls. I thought I would be back before you got done, but they took longer than I thought," I said as I felt him pull me closer to him.

"Please don't do that again," he mutters as I realized the pain pills are probably starting to kick in. I decided to help him get comfortable in the bed and then get in with him. I snuggled into his side as I felt his arms wrap around me. Who was I to think I could have done this without him?

I wake up warm as I feel like I am being squished into the mattress by Logan's over bearing body. I wiggle a little trying to move as I hear him mumble several times, by the time I am out from under him I am out of breath. I look over to the clock on the nightstand to see it read 2:43. I could see light out so I knew it was later afternoon. As quietly as I could I went to the bathroom to use the potty and to brush my teeth. I pulled half of my hair back and put it in a ponytail before exiting the bathroom.

Opening up the bags from CVS the night before or early morning I found several packages of beef jerky, 3 bottles of water, 2 bottles of S'kist, and a few different packages of candy. There really wasn't anything here for breakfast or lunch so I decided to write Logan a note telling him I went to the food court across from the motel to get something edible and I would be back.

I ordered a chicken salad and a double hamburger with a large fry and a medium coke from the McDonalds. As I was waiting for my food I saw a couple of men holding out a photo of a blonde teen. As soon as I saw them they turned in my direction, trying not to be caught I slowly looked down as if I was counting my money. I waited until my number was called and then I left. I watched as the men moved to the bus counter where the man behind the counter seemed to be telling them the bus had already left for Las Vegas. I didn't hear anymore of the conversation as I made my way to our motel room.

Logan wasn't in the bed anymore, but I heard noise in the bathroom so I assumed he was in there. I had laid out the lunch I picked up as he walked out of the bathroom. He gave me a small smile when he saw me.

"I really was worried earlier when you were gone," he says honestly as he sits down across from me.

"I know, I called for your things and your mom's things to be removed from your dad's house. I wasn't sure what Trina might do or your dad if he got out. Then I called Wallace to get him to watch Backup. I called my dad's office and left him a message. I wasn't able to tell him goodbye," I say as he just stares at me.

"Why did you do that?" he questions as I take a bite of my salad.

"I didn't want them to destroy your things," I reply as he smiles.

"I think that is the best thing anyone could do for me. I know your dad will miss you," he says as he puts a fry in his mouth. We talk about random things until we were done eating. I looked around at the clock as I began to think about the guys I had seen in the food court. I decided I had to tell him about it. He was worried I had been followed, but I assured him I wasn't and that they two guys were getting on a bus headed for Vegas as I made my way back to the room. He wasn't too happy I took the risk of going out, but he understood the need for food.

We waited until the last bus would be leaving and we caught it. Logan thought we should once again buy two tickets to slow them down. We bought one ticket to go to L.A. and the other tickets for some small town outside of Bakersfield, California. The goal was to head there and then spend a few nights in a motel before heading to our final destination of San Francisco. I liked this idea since it would keep us in different locations for a while.

Once we were in Bakersfield I began to relax a little since I knew that it would take a few days for the goons to realize I wasn't in Vegas. I also knew that the small area in Barstow where we were was little compared to being in Bakersfield. The town was bigger than I imagined. One of the things I decided that we needed to do without being caught was get some new identification. I had my laptop which I could create all the documents I needed, but I would have to find a self printer place to print the documents. I was lucky I had snagged extra copies of the papers I would need back when Lilly and I were creating fake ID's.

"Hey," I say as I nudged Logan who seemed to have fallen asleep while I was working.

"Huh," he mumbles as I see him stirring a little. I give him a small push as his eyes open wide before he pulls me flush to his body.

"Are you out of your mind?" I shriek as he scares me with the boldness of his actions.

"Did I hurt you?" he questions as he pulls away from me looking down at me as if I was some fragile piece of glass.

"No, you scared me. I wasn't ready for you to automatically do what you just did," I finally admit as he smirks at me.

"Sorry, I just got caught up in the moment and forgot that you know things have been sketchy since we left," he admits as I chuckle. I knew that Logan had two very different sides; he loved fiercely and he hated just as fiercely. I am still trying to get use to the loving part of him since I was at the receiving end of his hatred for the last year and half.

"Logan this is all new to me as well. I just have to get use to this side of you," I say as I kiss him on the lips. "I was waking you for two things; one we need to come up with names and birthdates so I can get the papers made for our new identifications, also wanted to know if you wanted to go out for awhile," I ask timidly. I don't know why I was worried about what he was going to say, but for some reason I was.

"I would love to go out," he says smiling as I lay my head on his chest. "I don't know what I want to be called, but I'd like for it to begin with an 'L' somehow," he says as I nod my head. I had already thought about that for my own name.

"What about Lester, like your mom's last name?" I question as he shakes his head.

"I thought about that, but I want to still be able to be called Lo, and with Lester I couldn't do that," he says as I think.

"Okay what about London and Lester could be your middle name," I say as he seems to be thinking it over before he smiles.

"I actually like that," he says as I now see him thinking really hard. What do you think you would like to be called? I mean I'm sure you still want your 'V'," he says as I nod my head.

"I do still want my name to start with a 'V', but I am stuck on what it should be," I say as he has pulled out one of the pre-paid phones I picked up the night we were in Barstow.

"Which do you like more Victoria or Violet?" he questions as I look up from my spot on his chest.

"I like Violet it seems more like my name. Victoria sounds not me," I say as he chuckles.

"Violet Lillian Ares and London Lester Ares," he says smiling at me as I sit up and begin typing out the new names. I liked the fact that he gave me a part of Lilly I had been missing while he kept some of his mom in his name. We spent the next 20 minutes finishing up the typing while he searched for the nearest copying place. Logan found a copy and print store half a mile down the street from where we were staying. I went into the store and hooked up my USB drive to the printer and loaded the paper I would need to use in the copier. Once I was done I knew I would have to find a hard plastic printer, but luck would be on my side as I saw the shop had one. Logan distracted the guy behind the counter as I slipped in the driver's license templates I had into the machine to print them out.

"Hey what are you doing at that machine?" one of the guys yells as I slip the cards quickly into my pocket as I hold up the papers in my hand and a pair of scissors in the other.

"I was just cutting the papers I just printed," I say as he comes around the counter to see what I was doing. He looks at me and the papers in my folder before walking away. Logan joins me shortly after I slipped out of the store.

"V, that was close," he mutters wiping his hand across his face.

"Yeah it was, but I got it all done," I say as I hand him his new license. He looks it over before pulling me close. I had kept our birth months but changed the day and year. London was born March 15, 1985 and Violet was born August 11, 1985. I wanted us to be the same age as well.

"I'm sorry for all of this," Logan says as I eye him up.

"What do you mean? You didn't do anything wrong. We were both just at the wrong place at the wrong time," I say as we walk down the street toward what looked like a festival. I was happy to be out of the small motel room. I wasn't use to being cooped up like this.

"I know, but in our world someone always has to pay," he says softly as we make our way through several different vendors to see what was being sold. Logan picked up some fresh fruit for our trip and I was able to find some neat little pastries that tasted to die for. We didn't get back to the motel room until late, but we didn't care because for once we seemed alright. It almost seemed like a normal life to me.

***LoVe***

 **Logan**

Veronica had been very quiet most of the morning as she went around the motel room gathering up all of our belongings. I wanted to ask her several times if she was alright, but I thought it would be better to let her be for the time being. I knew deep down that things like this took time to come to terms with, and she might just be handling things differently than normal.

"I think our best bet would be to get a cab to take us to the bus station," she finally says after looking through her shoulder bag once more.

"Okay," I say as she turns to look at me.

"Is everything alright?" she questions as I have to chuckle because I was just wondering about her and then she goes and asks me the question I have been wanting to ask her for half the morning.

"Yeah, what about you?" I counter as she raises her eyebrow at me.

"I'm just thinking about my dad and how he was hurt trying to save me and I just bailed out on him," she says pulling her bag over her shoulder before handing me the new rolling case holding our things.

"Veronica your dad loves you. He'll understand that you were just doing what you needed to do to protect him. He might be a little upset if he learns I am with you, but overall I think he'll be fine," I say trying hard to reassure her.

"I know, it's just I was really looking forward to finishing High School and moving on," she says flipping her hair as she opens the motel door ending the conversation. I checked out of the room and called for a cab. I threw away the prepaid phone she bought in Barstow and pulled out a fresh burner phone we picked up while we were out the night before.

Once the cab arrived and our things were loaded in the trunk we headed to the bus station. The drive was about fifteen minutes, but it was nice to have the ride instead of having to walk. Veronica went up to the window and bought two tickets for the next bus heading out of the station. I went up to the counter and purchased two tickets for the Amtrak heading up to San Francisco. The bus tickets were a decoy and since I looked nothing like the old Logan Echolls with the hair color and the baseball cap I wouldn't be so easy to make out.

"Come on lets sit down here and wait for our train," Veronica says as she pulls out a book all about San Francisco. I watch her as she flips through the pages casually. I noticed how she would occasionally look up to see who was around us before looking back down at her book.

"What is the plan when we get there?" I ask as I play with a strand of her hair.

"I think we'll stay at a low key motel or hotel whichever is the easiest, and then we'll go apartment hunting. I think we'd be in the motel a few days and act like tourist to keep from drawing attention to ourselves," she says as she looks up at the clock. It was only 1:30 and our train left in half an hour. Veronica went back to looking at her book. I picked up an old newspaper and skimmed it looking at the property values in the current area.

I was so engrossed with what I was doing I hadn't notice Veronica looking at me. I looked up from the newspaper to find her staring at me. She smiled when she saw me looking at her. I looked over at the passengers that were lining up to get on the train and without any words picked up our luggage and held my hand out for Veronica. We walked up to the train showed our ticket and boarded. I hadn't been on one of them before so I was surprised that they were like buses only with some seats facing each other separated by a table. I walked up to the stairs and headed up to the second floor as I picked a seat close to the back, Veronica sat beside me.

"How are you feeling?" I asked as the train began to move. She was leaning against me looking out the window.

"I'm really scared," she admitted as she turned to look at me. "I just hate that you got hurt, someone died and I have to leave everyone I know because someone wants to kill me," she says softly before turning back to the window. I watched as the scenery went by. The train stopped a few times to let people off in Waco, Hanford, Fresno, Modesto and several other stops until we reached Oakland and had to get on a bus once again.

"I have never been this far from home before," Veronica says as the bus is crossing over the Golden State Bridge. I looked out the window as I saw the cars passing by while the bus was making its way toward our final destination. She looked over my shoulder as we both quietly looked out over the ocean that would be our home for the time being. I longed for my own bed, but I knew deep down I would go anywhere as long as I was with Veronica. We were soul mates, and I would do anything to not only protect her, but keep her safe from the people who were now after her.


	4. Chapter 4

Fighting for LoVe

Chapter 4: Finding a Home

 **Logan**

It's been a week since we arrived in San Francisco, and I think things are finally setting in with Veronica. She has been very moody and standoffish for the past few days. We have been staying in a really nice little motel off of Hyde and California Street. We were sightseeing when we stumbled onto the motel in between other businesses. It was a nice little spot because there was a Trader Joe's and CVS just across the street as well as other small businesses within walking distance.

"We need to find a more permanent place to stay," Veronica says while I read the newspaper looking out the window at the people walking by below us.

"What are you wanting to get?" I questioned without looking up.

"I'd like to stay in the middle of the city so that we have several ways to escape in case we need them," she replies as I finally look up from my paper.

"Would you be okay near the water or do we have to stay in the middle of the city," I ask as she flips on the TV.

" _We are live in Neptune California where prosecutors are saying they will formally charge Action Star Aaron Echolls with the murder of Lilly Kane the daughter of Billionaire Jake Kane. Mr. Echolls is also being charged with attempted murder of former Sheriff Keith Mars and his missing daughter Veronica Mars. Miss. Mars was discovered missing the same night that Mr. Echolls tried to burn her alive in a freezer. It is unclear if the two incidents are related at this moment or not._

 _In other news Mr. Echolls teenage son Logan Echolls is missing as well. The teen was last seen surfing with his buddies Richard and Cassidy Casablancas before it was found out that his father had murdered his ex-girlfriend._

"Hey what's going on in that head of yours," I ask as I move to sit beside her on the bed.

"I'm thinking about all the people who have no clue what is going on, and how frustrated my dad must be right about now knowing I was gone," she replies looking down at her hands.

 _Jake Kane and his wife pleaded guilty to tampering with evidence in the murder of their daughter. The judge gave them probation ad a steep fine. The couple have left Neptune and its unsure if they'll return for the trial. Their other child Duncan Kane is currently staying in town to finish his Senior year when it starts in August_ ," the news reporter was still talking when Veronica flipped the TV off.

I could tell by Veronica's expression she wasn't too happy about the news report. I decided that maybe we needed to just take a breather and asked her to look for a place to live another day. I wanted to spend the time with her instead so we headed down to Fisherman's Wharf. I could see her perk up once we were out of the motel room and in the fresh air.

"Let's get our picture done," she asked when we were about to pass an artist vendor who was making those crazy cartoon portraits. We sat down as the guy began to draw and color us in. The time seemed to go by pretty quickly because the next thing I knew the guy was saying he was done. I was surprised that the photo was pretty accurate. It wasn't the cartoon character type like I had thought he would draw, but an actual portrait of the two of us. He rolled it up and smiled as he passed it to Veronica as I paid him double what he was asking.

"Would you like to get something to eat?" I asked as I heard a low rumble come from her. She gave me a small smile as she paused to look at some beaded bracelets that were on a table. I knew that she was trying to stay strong, but it was killing me on the inside because she wouldn't open up to me. I mean I understood how much this would change how she looked at things, but she needed to be more open so that I could help her.

"Let's eat here," she said a few minutes after we left the bracelet table. It was a nice little seafood restaurant. I looked around to see if there were any cameras or other items that could help someone find us.

"Sure," I finally say once I finish my scan of the entrance. A waitress pulled two menus out of a basket and began to lead us to the back of the restaurant where there were several tables out on a balcony overlooking the serene ocean. I glanced over the menu once before I settled on getting a salmon dish. Veronica decided to get a simple salad extra bread on the side.

"Do you think we would have ended up like this if Lilly were still alive?" she finally asks after the food is placed in front of us. I continue to take the bite that was halfway to my mouth as she began her question.

"I don't know if we would be right here, but yeah I would like to think we would have ended up together. I have liked you since forever, but Lilly asked me out first and then she made it certain for Duncan to ask you out," I say as I cut a small piece of my fish adding some rice on my fork and take another bite.

"I bet Lilly would have loved this type of a scandal. She sure loved to cause Drama," she says as she looks out at the ocean. I really felt at home here. We finished our meal in small talk. I paid the bill and headed for the marina down from the pier we were at. There was a small beach before you got to the marina so we headed down to the water were there were so many other people. I was busy looking out at all the various types of boats in the water that I missed Veronica sitting down in the sand. "Lo," she says as I turn back to look at her.

"Yeah," I say as I sit down beside her taking the light jacket I had on and hand it to her. She slipped it on quickly as she leaned against my shoulder.

"I'm glad that you are here with me," she whispers as  
I pull her closer.

"I was thinking maybe if you wanted to we could get a small boat to live in instead of looking for an apartment. I mean if you want to," I say as she looks toward the marina.

"I don't know…" she starts as I look back out to the water knowing that it wasn't something she would want to do. "Why would you want to live on the water?' she questions as I turn to look at her.

"I think living on a boat would be easier for us since we are trying to keep a low profile. I mean even if we got an apartment in the city there would be danger if they found out where we were, on a boat we could easily go undetected out of the harbor," I say slowly as I try to think of more to say, but decide to let her think it over.

***LoVe***

 **Veronica**

After Logan told me why he thought a boat would be better for us, I let his words sink in. I mean logically we were in San Francisco and a lot of people lived on them. I knew in Neptune that was true as well, since I remember visiting both the Kanes and Echolls boats when I was younger. I could see that Logan had really thought it out to some point, maybe not the right way.

"I see some of your reasoning with wanting to live on a boat, but you weren't clear on everything," I say after thinking it all over in my head. "I think the idea isn't too awful," I continue as I feel him shove me slightly.

"What are your reservations about the idea?" Logan asks as I intertwine our hands.

"How would we afford it? What would we do? Why a boat?" I ask the questions quickly.

"I took a lot of cash as well as credit cards I can pull money from. We would just enjoy the scenery for now. I think the boat is a good idea because it can be mobile and everything we had would be on it. Veronica I am just trying to look for the best way to help protect us. I know I am not skilled in the art of whatever this is, but I can think of ideas sometimes," he says as I feel him pulling away from me.

"The idea is actually very sound in reasoning. I really like the fact that we wouldn't have to buy much to live off of," I finally admit as I feel his arms wrap around me pulling me closer to his body.

"Really, you're not just saying that to keep me here," he questions as I move my head to look up at him. In reality I would do anything to keep him with me, but not like this. No his idea was pretty good.

"No, I actually think it is the best option for us right now. On the plus side if we needed to move quickly we would be able to do so without a real issue," I say as he helps me up as leads me toward the marina. Once we reached the marina he pulled out the newspaper he was looking at this morning. As he unfolded it I noticed to circles around two different pictures.

"I am glad you decided this because we can look at two of them right now," he says as he motions me toward this huge yacht. It had to have at least three stories to it, but when he saw my expression he nodded and moved further down the dock to a smaller yacht. It was still bigger than what I thought we needed, but the look on his face told me he had already fallen in love with it.

"Howdy," a plump man smoking a cigar says as we stop in front of the yacht.

"My wife and I would like to look at the yacht if it was still for sale," Logan says as he moves closer to the yacht.

"Well you two are in luck. She's still for sale," the man says as he holds his hand out. Logan grabs it and pulls himself on the yacht as he reaches back for me. "This here is a fine yacht, my wife and I just got her a year ago. She passed away last year, and well I really don't like being on this yacht anymore without her. I want to get rid of it and move closer to my kids, I'm too old to be out on the ocean alone," the man continued as I followed Logan.

I was surprised at the small porch like area the yacht had as you got on. I was a little worried because there were no railings or anything to hold onto, but overall it was nice that I didn't have to climb over anything to board the boat. Although in order to get to the main steering house you have to climb a few steps, yet the guy must have taken good care of the boat because there was a detachable window that could be removed to make it look like the yacht had a small patio like area. It was nicely set up as well with a padded bench as you come up the steps. Then you can move up a few more steps to the steering house where there was two seats one for the driver and his or her passenger as well as another small bench that the man said held the medical box, flares and maps.

"So how long have you two been married?" the man questioned as he led us down the steps to the actually living quarters on the yacht.

"Only a few months," Logan replies as he sits down on one of the couches.

"Wait till you have been married a lifetime," the man jokes as he picks up an old photo that was on the counter. "My wife and I were married for 30 years, but she passed after a long struggle with cancer," he replied as he set the photo back on the counter. As you enter the yacht the small kitchen is to your right and a door is to your left. The master bedroom was behind that door. The dining area with a nice sofa like seating where you could put the table down and create a twin bed in case it was ever needed, moving around in the space wasn't too hard because there seemed to be a lot of room from such a small space. He told us there was another smaller bedroom on the other end of the yacht with a full bath that was for guests, but his wife had removed everything before she got sick to put in two twin beds, but never finished the room. I opened the door to find it clearly empty.

"London, what do you think?" I ask as I open a cupboard in the kitchen area. He was sitting opposite of the man we still hadn't even gotten his name.

"I really like it, do you," he questions as I make my way toward him.

"It actually has a warm home like feeling to it. I do," I say as I look toward the man who had a smile on his face. I decided to roam around the outside a little while Logan and the man worked out the paperwork. I was lost in the beauty of the view as I felt two arms snake around me.

"Congratulations, Mrs. Ares," the man said as he handed something to Logan before reaching his hand out to me. I shook it as I looked back to Logan.

"Thank you," I say smiling as the man handed a key to Logan.

"I can't tell you have great this is Mr. Morris," he says as I see a smile on the man's face.

"I am glad that you and your lady will be able to enjoy it more than I was able to. I will leave the other key and all the paperwork in the box next to the steering wheel. The spot is paid up until the end of the month, but you can rent it or go somewhere else. Good Luck," he says as I watch him walk toward the road at the end of the dock.

"Do you really like this yacht?" Logan questions as he leads me up the dock toward a trolley.

"Yes, I felt at ease the moment we got on it," I say as we watch the people milling around as the trolley takes us closer to our motel. I finally felt like I was safe. I knew Logan and I would never be perfectly safe as long as Liam had a price on me, but at least we now had a place to live. It was even more than I could have ever wanted. I would have settled for a cramped apartment, but no we got a mini house. Things were just beginning to settle, but I knew the calm wasn't going to last forever.


	5. Chapter 5

Fighting LoVe

Chapter 5: Settling In

 **Keith**

I hated that the damn Doctors were keeping me cooped up while my daughter was missing. Not only was I being watched intently by Alicia upon Doctors orders of course, but Liam Fitzpatrick the smug bastard was walking around freely commits crimes while my baby girl was who knows where.

"Keith, you shouldn't be out of bed," Alicia states as she enters my room while I was looking through the missing person's file on my daughter.

"Alicia, I need something to do. I can't just lounge about all day in my bed. I'm not built like that," I say angrily as I toss the file on the counter and hobble to the couch to sit down.

"I know that, but I thought you were working on the book about Lilly Kane," she asks as I see Darrel sit at the counter. She had been coming over so much that Darrel felt right at home.

"I finished the rough draft and sent it to my agent," I say as she sits down beside of me.

"I can't tell you I know what you're going through because I don't, but I know Veronica wouldn't have left you if she didn't have to. You need to take care of yourself right now if you plan on finding her," she says as she settles in beside of me. I knew she had no clue what I was going through, but she had stuck by me while Veronica's own mom booked it, and took the $50,000 I received for finding Duncan Kane. I was very fortunate that after some legal threats Jake Kane sent me a replacement check.

Alicia cooked dinner while Darrel tried to distract me talking about baseball and how he wanted to play for the Padres when he got older. Wallace told him he wasn't going to play baseball, but basketball like him. It use to be odd when the two of them would hang out with me while their mom worked or cooked, but now it was like second nature. I was enjoying them so much that at times I would forget all about the pain I was going through. The nights that the kids hung out with me usually ended the same way with them waiting with me until their mom got off work, and then she would pick them up as she was checking in with me. Then when they would leave I would go into PI mode and try to connect the dots of where my daughter was and why she had to leave.

"Mr. Mars are you in here," Wallace calls as I hear him making his way through the small entrance of my PI office. I had finally been cleared by the doctor to go back to work, and he was going to help me out with some light filing and office things. He had quit his job at Sac & Pac due to the crime spree the PCHers were on because they felt Logan Echolls had murdered Felix Toombs since a video of what really happened disappeared. The turf war between the 09er's and them had gotten really bad. I had heard that Principal Clemmons had metal detectors installed to keep the high school kids safe. I think Alicia thought Wallace helping me would keep him out of harm's way, and in return he could keep an eye out on me for her.

"Wallace," I say as I enter the reception area where he was already getting settled into Veronica's old desk.

"I'm sorry I'm late, Darrel wanted to go home instead of coming here with me. I dropped him off at the neighbors and then headed right here," he was saying quickly as he was already going through the files I had left on his desk.

"Its fine," I say as I sit down in one of the chairs in front of him. "How was school?" I question as he looks up from the file in his hand.

"Oh, you know the same," he mutters as I stand up to walk back to my office.

"If Veronica contacted you Wallace, you'd let me know right," I ask as I see him look up from the file in his hand.

"Yeah, of course. I haven't heard from here though," he says as I leave him to it. I lean my cane up against the desk as the phone rings.

"Keith Mars," I answer.

"This is Marcie Waters; I have been in discussion with your agent Mike Spelling over your book about Lily Kane. I am sending you the final copy of what the writers have decided upon," Marcie says as I sit down in my chair.

"Were there a lot of things changed?" I questioned as I knew Jake and Celeste had tried to shut down the project several times.

"No, the majority of rewrites were just spelling errors or sentence mechanics. I have to say I read the book and found it very fascinating. I just can't even begin to understand how your daughter felt knowing that something was off for all that time, while everyone kept saying the murderer was behind bars," she says as I look up to see Alicia looking in at me.

"I don't know. I just know that she was as certain as I was that things just didn't seem right in the case," I say as she continues for a few more minutes talking about the book and the release date as well as other issues I would deal with another time.

"Did you get some good news?" Alicia asks as she drives me back to my apartment. Wallace was staying with Darrel so that we could have the night to our selves.

"Not much, just talking about the final draft of my novel and the release date," I say as I climb the steps to my apartment. Once we were inside I quickly settled into the sofa as we waited for the pizza to arrive. It had been three months since Veronica disappeared and I missed her like crazy.

***LoVe***

 **Veronica**

I would be lying if I said the last few months were easy for me; they weren't. I have found that Logan is very in love with me more than I thought was ever possible, but true as it was it still terrified me. The only role models I had growing up have either broken up or committed suicide to get out of their marriage vows. My dad though even as blind as he was to my mother's extracurricular love affair with Jake Kane, he loved her. I thought Lilly loved Logan since they broke up and then got back together, but I am realizing that wasn't really so much love as it was being attached to him for his name.

"Hey," I hear Logan say as he reenters the bedroom where I had been trying to sleep. "Are you feeling any better?" he asks as he hands me a fresh glass of ginger ale.

"Not really," I say as he climbs up on the bed lying beside of me.

"Do you miss it as much as I do?" he questions as I take a moment to process his question.

"I miss my dad and Wallace, but really I don't miss anything else," I say honestly as I look up into his eyes. "I have you here, and that makes all this worth more than any of the people at Neptune High could," I say because it was the truth. I might be mixed up with my feelings, but knowing he left so much behind just to be with me made things easier, and more bearable than what I had thought I would have had to do if I was alone.

"I agree, although I really don't miss my dad or most of my friends. I hate to admit it because I know you, but I do miss Dick," he says as I laugh because hearing him just refer to his friend the way he did sounded so much worse than it was really.

"Well, here I thought it was me you were into, but now I find out you row the other way," I joke as I feel his hands begin to torture me, tickling me as I try to wait as long as I could before begging for mercy. "Sorry," I barely gasp out as I try to brush his hands away from me.

"I only have feelings for you," he says laughing as I try to control my breathing as he pulls me closer to his body. It was times like this where we could just lay together and forget about the outside world that I liked. It didn't matter how long we laid as long as we were together everything was fine.

"Vee, Come here, check it out," I hear Logan call out as I was pulling my shirt over my head. I quickly walked into the small main area of our boat to see my dad on the television screen. He was being interviewed by Julie Chen. I reach for the remote as he pulls me into his lap.

" _Now, I can remember the intensive…" Julie Chen was talking as I look over all the information on the screen._ I hadn't seen my dad since I fled Neptune in May and here it was September. I knew if I was in Neptune school would be in full session and I would be home alone while he was doing all this. I had heard about the book, but wasn't sure about it until just now. _"...coverage of the Lilly Kane murder, the press made you out to be some kind of Barney Fife character," she says with a small smile. My dad just gives her a full fledge grin._

" _Yeah, well the media says a lot of things about me," he says chuckling softly._

" _Are you feeling a sense of redemption?" she asks as I feel Logan tightening his grip on me. I see that they change the screen to just show him with the_ _description: "Keith Mars. Co-Author,_ _Big Murder, Small Town_ _."_

" _A sense of relief would probably be more accurate. Um, I'd be lying if I said I didn't have days, weeks even, of doubting myself over missing so much in the initial investigation," he says as I see him look to the side._

" _Do you think you could have found the real killer in the beginning if you hadn't gone right after Jake Kane?" Julie questions as I move to turn the TV off, but Logan stops me._

" _What I did know at that time was that Mr. Kane was lying about the circumstances of his daughter's..." he says as I see him look back to the side once more as if he was being distracted._ I turn to look at Logan who shrugs his shoulders as I hear Julie ask another question.

" _Could you take us back to that night, the night Aaron Echolls was captured? You were nearly burned alive rescuing your daughter," she says as_ I completely turn to face the screen watching as my breath is tight and my lungs begin to burn as my dad struggles to hold back his own tormented emotions.

"Come on, Dad, just lay it out there for her and the world: father crawls through fire to save daughter, father almost burned alive rushed to hospital," I say out loud as I feel Logan tense under my body. "Daughter's night? Just beginning," I finish as Logan turns to move out from under me. "Logan," I say as I flick the TV off.

"Veronica," he mutters as I twist around to face him.

"No, I am not letting you leave," I snap as I see him turn to face me.

"Your dad is suffering without you. That is what he gets, the price he has to pay because of something I did. You get to watch him suffer for being here with me," he yells as I feel him jerk himself out from under me.

"This isn't your fault," I snap as I stand up to follow him. "You were on the bridge when Weevil and his posse got to you. I don't know all the details, but you were framed for the murder of Felix and could have been killed yourself if I hadn't stepped in," I yell as he turns around to face me once again.

"Shh!" he whispers as I am finding it hard to breath. I begin to panic as I pull him closer trying to even out my breathing. I felt like my heart was beating faster than I had ever felt it beat before. "I'm here, it's going to be alright Veronica calm down," I hear Logan whispering into my hair as he rubbed circles on my back.

"No, she seems to have passed out," I hear Logan saying in a worried expression. "Yes, she has been under the weather, but I don't think it's something that… Oh, no I don't know if she is. Yes, I'll make sure to have her check up on it," he says as he turns around. "She is waking up, no thank you," he says quickly as he hangs up the phone and moves toward where I was resting.

"What happened?" I questioned as I tried to get up only to have him stop me with a very concerned expression on his face.

"We were talking," he starts as I raise an eyebrow at him, "fine agreeing and you slumped over gasping for air," he mutters rubbing his hand over his face. I took the moment to examine him closely. He now sported a brown bread, and longer hair, but you could still see the surfer boy in him if you looked hard enough.

"I'm sorry," I mutter as he leans into me resting his forehead up against mine making our noses touch.

"You have nothing to be sorry for. I wasn't thinking when I told you that you would be better off without me. I can see that isn't a very good idea now, since the on-call nurse thinks we might have a bigger issue to why you aren't feeling well at the moment," he says as I look into the soft caramel eyes I have fallen in love with.

"And what does the nurse think I have," I asked a little rougher than I wanted.

"She thinks that you might be pregnant," he says as I begin to think back on the last couple of weeks to see if there was anything that could have brought this conclusion to me without him having to learn it from some stranger. _Could I be pregnant and not even know it?_ I looked to Logan to see what was going on in his mind, but the look he was giving me made me feel so much better than anything else at the moment. "Veronica, no matter what I am here for you. We'll go into the city right now and get a test to see if you are, but please don't think that you are all alone in this. I'm here for you," he says as he kisses me passionately.

After what seemed like forever I finally felt well enough to get dressed and head into town with Logan. He was resting his head on the railing of the yacht as I exited the living area. As my feet hit the dock I felt a calming ease wash over me. It seemed as if the closer we got to the real world the more at ease I became. Logan didn't want to just rush into a store and get a test, no he wanted to get some dinner and enjoy the city for a little while before we headed back to the yacht.

We had dinner at a different part of the pier closer to Fisherman's Wharf then headed up to the center of San Francisco to get some things we needed as well as groceries. As we were leaving the grocery store I was becoming exhausted from the amount of walking we had done as well as all the places we were going to. It was as if Logan could read my mind because he asked the cab driver to stop at the nearest pharmacy because he needed to pick up something. I waited in the cab as he ran in. A few minutes later he returned with two bags of things a a smile on his face. I wanted to know why he was smiling, but he held his figure up to his lips.

The driver dropped us off at the main area of the dock where the club was as well as the parking area. I went to help Logan out with the groceries and all, but he shook his head at me telling me to just head down to the yacht. I unlocked the cabin door and waited for him in the living room area. He came in a few minutes later and quickly put the groceries away. I watched him memorized by how calm he was.

"Are you ready?" he questions as he turns around to look at me from the kitchen area. I looked up to see he was holding a brown paper bag in his hand. He came over to me and helped me up. We went into our bedroom and headed right to the bathroom. "I want you to know that no matter what the tests say, I'm here for you 100%. I love you Veronica and I think I have loved you for as long as I have known you," he says as he hands me a cup of ginger ale. He pulls out three different tests and we read the instructions together before I feel like I have to go to the bathroom. I ask him to wait outside the door as I pee on the sticks.

"We now have to wait three minutes," I say as I wash my hands and leave the tests on the counter. "Logan, I have a hard time using the word 'love' because of the way I have seen it used in my life, but I love you as well," I say as he pulls me into his side.

"I've never doubted you," he says softly as I move to sit up.

"What do you mean?" I ask as he sits up beside me.

"I always thought the reason you hung out with me was because of who I was or because of the Kane's, but when I looked back you hung out with me even when they weren't around. The day we went home from our all night dance, you made sure to have your dad take me with you guys for breakfast even though he was so mad at you. Veronica, I know the past is the past, but I am really sorry for all the crap I put you through because I felt if I was miserable you should be as well," he says looking away from me for the first time.

"Well thanks a lot," I mutter as I shove into him. "It's all in the past. We are here right now. No matter what happens now we have each other. I can't do this without you," I say as I get up and hold my hand out.

"Thank you," he says as we walk into the bathroom to see if our lives were going to be changing for the better or if it was all just a wash.


	6. Chapter 6

Fighting LoVe

Chapter 6:

 **Mac**

I wasn't really a big friend to Logan or any of the 09ers when Veronica hung out with them before Lilly died, but it was nerve racking to watch them moan and groan over Logan disappearing with her. Duncan Kane was the worse of them all; he had started to go out with Meg Manning before Veronica left, but broke up with her right after it was discovered that Logan's dad had murdered Lilly.

"Meg," I called out as I watched her turn slowly around to face me, she looked lost. I hadn't really known her too well before, but I knew she wasn't the same person.

"Cindy, right," she says softly as I chuckle no one really called me that.

"I go by Mac," I say giving her a small smile as she moves to go down the steps in the quad area. "He's a jerk for letting you go," I say as she stops walking and turns back around to look at me once again.

"I know, but it still hurts," she says as I move closer to her.

"He doesn't deserve anymore of your time," I say as I see Wallace motioning for me to come to him.

"Mac, it's hard to compete with someone who isn't even in the picture, but there is more to this and that's what is hurting me," she confides in me as I try to think like Veronica would as I only can see one reason as too way a breakup like this would still be hard for her.

"Does he know?" I questioned as she looked up at me with wide eyes.

"No, he won't have anything to do with me. I tried to tell him twice, but he refuses to hear me out. Madison and Shelly are now always around him, and this isn't something I want spread all over the school just yet," she mumbles as I nod my head looking up to see Wallace had left where he was standing and was about a foot away from us.

"I won't tell a soul," I say as Wallace held his hand out to Meg.

"Wallace Fennel," he says smiling as Meg takes his hand and shakes it.

"I knew that, you were the best basketball player on the Neptune team this last year," she says looking away.

"Yeah, well I had to keep it real for my girl. Although I guess it doesn't matter now seeing as I was kicked off the team for a positive drug test," he muttered as I looked over at Meg who pulled out a similar envelop.

"Well that makes two of us," she muttered as I felt that there was more to this little drug sting than what was being told. I looked over at her with a curious expression.

"Drugs," I questioned as Meg nodded her head. I decided to play detective because I knew there was no way Wallace would be caught doing drugs. I've met his mom, and I am thankful she wasn't mine because she was stricter than a normal parent should be. "Okay, we've got work to do," I said while they looked at me.

It wasn't too hard to pull all the information that I would need, and of course with a little help with digging into a company from Mr. Mars a week later I had everything I needed to prove that the positive drug tests were created by several parents who students were actual users. Mr. Clemmons of course helped me with a little sting operation.

"Mac, are you going on the trip," Meg asked as I was passing her while she waited to board the bus headed to Shark Stadium.

"Nah, I think I'll stay here. I need to do a few things before I head to Wallace's for the afternoon," I said as all this noise like yelling and laughter got closer I watched her turn as I did to see Duncan Kane and his small group of 09ers coming toward the bus. I could see Meg becoming tensed as the group got closer. I had picked up journalism due to Mr. Clemmons telling me I was involved in school activities like I should be.

"Move," someone from the group snapped as I saw Duncan turn quickly from looking toward Meg. I felt a slap across my butt as Dick Casablancas walked by.

"Nice butt, Ghostworld," he said as he turned back to the group as they boarded the bus.

"Come on," I finally say relenting to being forced to join my peers in an activity that I would rather be tied up from attending, but Meg was sort of my friend and I wanted to be there for her.

During the bus ride I could hear the snickers from the 09ers behind us about different things, but tried to ignore them. It was hard to do so when they liked to poke fun at people just because they needed a good laugh. One of them was saying something about Meg when all of a sudden there was a loud smack heard.

"Knock it off Beaver," Dick snapped as he moved closer toward us. I quickly turned around to see the lone tear slip down Meg's cheek. I quietly handed her a tissue as I slipped out my phone and began searching for things about the younger Casablancas boy. During the little outing at the stadium the girls were all over Duncan, it was sickening to know he was hurting Meg and he couldn't see it. I vaguely thought about Veronica and how she must of felt when he dumped her last year.

"Ghostworld, Meg, you two ladies want to ride back with us. I called my dad to send a limo for us because I wasn't going to be riding back on that stinking bus," Dick says as I turn to look at Meg.

"I have a name, Dick," I muttered as Meg finally looks up from the ground to see his expression.

"I know you do, but Ghostworld seems to fit your personality better than Mac or even your given name of Cindy," he says as I feel my jaw dropping. I couldn't believe he actually knew my name. All this time I thought he was some stupid jerk, but he actually wasn't. He just wasted his brains doing dumb things.

"Go on, Mac," Meg says as I turn from her to Dick before deciding to ride the bus back.

"Nah, thanks," I say as I follow Meg back to the bus and get back on it.

"You could have gone with them," she says as we sit down behind one of the PCHers.

"Correct, but I would rather endure this high school experience with you," I say as I get settled in for the ride back to Neptune High. I was listening to the music on my IPOD as I felt a nudge. I opened my eyes to see we were at a gas station.

"Let's get something to eat," Meg says as I nod my head. I pulled my bag over my shoulder and followed her into the little store. Neither of us knew the danger that we would be getting into as we paid for our purchases.

***LoVe***

 **Veronica**

I was holding my breath as Logan held my hand leading me back toward our sink to see what the test showed. I was nervous as hell, but for some reason I felt safer than I had expected to knowing that I wasn't going to be doing this alone no matter what the test showed.

"Ronnie," Logan says as I can't bring myself to look up from the test. The results made me quickly move my hand to my stomach and rub it. Could I really go through with this? I was about to say something to Logan when there was a knock on the door of our yacht. "I'll go see who it is and then we'll talk about this?" he says as he gets up and moves toward the main room. I decided to follow him out.

"Mr. Ares, I thought you both should know there were two tough looking guys here earlier looking for a couple of teens about your age. Art turned them away, but they were adamant that someone saw them here," the harbor master's wife was saying as I peeked my head around the corner. She was an elderly lady who was always nice to us.

"Thanks, Vee, I thought you were going to say in bed," Logan says as I come all away around the door area.

"I wanted to see who was here, darling. We hardly have company and I thought it would be nice to offer a drink or something," I say smiling as Edna enters while Logan gives me a questioning look.

"How are you doing today? You looked dead on your feet the last time I saw you out," she asks like a mother hen as she ushers me to the sofa.

"I'm doing better," I say smiling as Logan gets me water and her one as well. "Can you describe the two guys who came looking for the teens?" I ask as she smirks at me before pulling out her phone.

"I can do better than that," she says handing me the phone after she pushes a few buttons. I can clearly see Liam's cousin and the other guy from the bridge the night Logan was beat. I couldn't figure out how they found us where we were.

"What time did they come by?" Logan asks as he sits down beside me.

"They were here around 9ish. Matt sent them on their way, but they looked like they weren't going to take not knowing. I waited awhile to come to you," she says as I see her look toward the door and then back at us. "I have known for awhile who you two were. I heard Logan say your name 'Veronica' more than once when you were out on the docks. I kept it to myself, but these guys seemed to mean business," she says as I feel Logan wrap his arm around me protectively.

Edna left shortly after her admission to the two of us. Logan wanted to get on a plane and fly across the country, but I had a better idea. I went up to the harbor office and talked with Matt and Edna into erasing our boat from the office's computer system as well as all the logs. Edna had told Matt what was going on and he was on board to protecting us. I felt a little better as she handed me a food basket filled with a warm meal and other things as she hugged me and sent me back to Logan.

"Hey," I managed to say as I entered the yacht looking over at Logan who was going through the paperwork on the yacht.

"It's done," he asked as I nodded my head. He stood up from his spot and pulled the flaps on the yacht to close it off from the air. We were both glad that it came with the plastic flaps since we could sit on the back of the yacht and have them closed to keep the bugs out. They would come in hand now to keep the water out as it began to pour down rain.

I knew that after everything Logan and I endured over the past year, nothing would prepare us for what was going to happen in the near future. I was very against him buying this yacht, but it was proving the best choice of housing right now. Logan and I would be leaving San Francisco heading south closer to home. The fact that Liam's cousin got close was an eye opener for us. We would need to be more careful in the future because this was no longer just about him or me. There was more than just our lives at stake now.


	7. Chapter 7

Fighting LoVe

Chapter 7: Mishaps and Journeys

 **Dick**

It sucked that I didn't try harder to get Meg and Ghostworld to ride back to Neptune in the limo whit us. I knew that Duncan and Meg had a falling out like Veronica and him, but for some reason he didn't seem to affected by this break-up like he had before. I was watching Cassidy as he fiddled with his cell phone. He creeped me out at times because he could be oh so sweet and then turn on you like a ruthless manic.

"Dick, do you think Logan has finally got tired of Veronica," Shelly asks as I watch her running her hand up and down Duncan's arm. I wasn't like Logan I couldn't allow my friends to turn on a friend like we had all done to Veronica. No, it was making me sick watching Duncan turn into an ass with Meg. I thought Meg was actually a really nice girl. I wouldn't date her, but she was someone I knew could count on if I needed help or anything.

"Duncan, man did you see how bad Meg looked," I asked ignoring Shelly and her question. I watched as several of our friends turned to look in my direction like I had grown a second head or something.

"Who the hell cares?" Shelly snaps as I watch out of the corner of my eye as I see Duncan flinch at her when she spoke. I could at least see he wasn't acting like a total dick, but he was still being an ass.

"Dude, what is your problem?" one of the guys sitting next to my brother asks as I move further away from them. I was getting nervous with everyone surrounding me. I should have ridden back on the damn bus. If I had of I would have at least been able to talk with Ghostworld.

"Nothing," I muttered as I saw Duncan look up toward Beaver before looking back down at his phone. I decided to turn around and look out the window. I decided to text Ghostworld, ' _ **Do you want to get together, maybe study?'**_ I question unsure of what to ask or say to her. As I hit send the Limo swerved slightly as a strange booming noise went off ahead of us. Everyone was crowding into my space as the limo stopped in the middle of the highway, and we began to flitter out of it. There were tire marks on the asphalt and smoke coming up from the side of the cliff.

***LoVe***

 **Mac**

"Meg," I call out as she opens the door slowly looking from me to the back end of the already departing bus. I turn sideways to see the biker kid that Veronica would hang out with occasionally right as the limo with all the 09er kids drive by.

"I'll call my parents to come get us," she says as she moves closer to me just as I see a familiar balding guy with Wallace.

"Wallace," I yell as he turns to look at me.

"Mac, Meg what the heck are the two of you doing here," he says as I see Mr. Mars walking around the car toward us.

"We were on the bus and it left us here," Meg says as I see her fidgeting with her bag.

"Come on girls, we're heading back to Neptune anyways," Mr. Mars says as he heads back t the driver side of his car. We must have been driving for a little while we heard a loud bomb and then tires screeching. I could see ahead of us the limo had stopped as the 09ers filed out of it. I watched as Dick got out and looked around. Mr. Mars slammed on his breaks asnd got out quickly heading toward the group of kids standing on the side of the highway.

"Ghostworld," Dick yells as he jogs toward me when he spots me getting out of the car.

"Dick," I half mutter as he wraps his arms around me.

"I thought you were on the bus," he says slowly as I feel myself wrapping my arms around him as we walk toward the cliff where I could see books and other things skittered on the surface of the water. "Come here Meg," he says as he wraps an arm around her shaking form. To think we were on the bus right before it left us.

***LoVe****

 **Keith**

It has been two days since the bus carrying several journalism students back to Neptune went off the side of the cliff. I had it on several accounts that it sounded like a blast was heard before it went over, but since most of the wealthier students were riding in a limo behind the bus no one seemed to care.

"Can I help you?" I asked the blonde teen who looked as if he would rather be anywhere but where he currently was.

"Mr. Mars," he questioned as he seemed to be looking at a photo on the wall. I moved closer to see what it was, but knew deep down it was a photo with Veronica in it. It was the last photo she probably took with Lilly. I was surprised I hadn't taken it down yet. It was a reminder of the past that helped destroy our family.

"Yeah," I mutter reaching out for the photo and taking it off the wall.

"I'm Dick," he says looking around as I motion for him to sit on the sofa.

"Cassablancas," I ask as he looks up from his feet.

"Yeah, Dick Cassablancas. I came because I thought you might want to know that just before the bus went over the cliff it sounded like a bomb or something went off and then something else, but I'm not sure what it was," he says as he looks up at me.

"Something else like what," I questioned as I watched him shrug his shoulders.

"I'm not sure maybe tires breaking or something. I'm not sure, but it was like a pop and then tires screeching, I think," he says as I think back to what the other students had told me. It was similar to what he was telling me, but he actually told me a different take on what happened.

"Why haven't you told the Sheriff?" I questioned as I watched him sit straighter.

"I did tell him, but he hasn't done anything else about it. I watch the news. He is still going after the bus driver," he muttered. I never really took a hard look at this kid. Sure I knew he was surfing buddies with Logan and pals with Duncan, but I really didn't know much about him.

"Several of the other kids in the limo said they heard a pop. Could you describe it more," I say as I feel my phone vibrate in my pocket.

"Gosh, I don't know it sounded like an explosion of sorts and then I heard squealing like tires trying to stop," he says as I jot down the information.

"Dick, why weren't you and your friends on the bus?" I ask as he looks up from the floor.

"The bus stunk. It smelled like something had died in it. I called my dad and he said he would send a limo for us," he says. I just nod my head.

"Okay, if you can think of anything else let me know," I say as I go to get up.

"Have you heard anything from Logan or Ronnie?" he asks as he gets up. I hadn't heard anyone call Veronica, 'Ronnie' in a long time.

"No, I haven't," I say softly as he nods his head and heads out of the office. I head into my office and close the door. I pull out my cell phone and dial the number left for me.

"Mars," the man on the other line says as I chuckle.

"Yeah, sorry about not answering I was with a client," I say as I sit down in my chair.

"I got a call from a buddy of mine who says he found your girl and her friend, but was too late they had already left," he says as I look at the map in front of me. It was rumored they were in California, but I wasn't sure where.

"Where did your friend see them? Mac," I say pulling out my pen.

"They had been spotted in San Francisco, living on a boat," he says as I circle San Francisco on my map.

"Anything else," I question.

"Yeah, my buddy says they were tipped off by the elder couple who manage the docks where they were staying. A couple of the Fitzpatrick's spooked them and they warned the kids," he says as I almost fall out of my chair.

"Do you know how they tracked them up there? I mean we haven't been able to even do that until now," I say as I hear him take a deep breath.

"The kids hadn't really changed much. I was able to get a few photos from cameras nearby," he says as I hang up knowing the call was just going to get me down. At least I knew they were still together and alive.

***LoVe***

 **Veronica**

It had been a week since Logan and I left San Francisco. I missed the city and all the fresh air that we had there since Logan felt we needed to keep a low profile. I had been taking it easier as well since the rocking of the boat was making me slightly sea sick. Logan had decided that we would be safer in a location closer to Neptune in case we would need my dad's help. Logan had been very considerate toward what he felt I would need more than what he actually needed. I knew all of this was weighing heavily on him, but he was being a real sport of it all.

"Hey," I hear Logan whisper in my ear as I leaned back into him more.

"I didn't hear you come in," I say as I relax under his expert massaging of my shoulders.

"You looked as if you were thinking really hard so I put the groceries away and then came over here to you," he replies as he kisses the nape of my neck.

"Anything new in the papers," I questioned as he handed the Neptune newspaper to me. I saw several pictures of our classmates looking out at me along with a teacher. "What happened?" I asked as I watched him move toward the TV we had been only using for videos. We hadn't hooked it up to cable or anything.

"I heard some people talking about a bus crash on the PCH highway, but I decided to see about getting local TV so that we could catch up on the news or something. I got internet service as well," he says as I look at the TV that was showing Sherriff Lamb talking about the driver of the bus. I was itching to call my dad for details, but knew that was too risky.

"Did you get anything else?" I asked as he smiled at me.

"I was thinking about what you have been saying about flying under the radar so I picked this up," he says handing me a box that I thought I would never have to see.

"And all this time I thought blondes had so much more fun, at least that's what Lilly would say," I joke looking at the mahogany hair coloring box. Logan took his hat off revealing his new dark brown shaggy hair. He had been growing it out since we fled Neptune, but I hadn't really thought about how long it was until seeing the new color in it.

"I think this suits you so much better," I smile at him as I run my hands through his hair.

"I actually thought so as well," he says as he kisses me softly on the forehead. "I also checked the chemicals out to see if they were safe or not for you to use," he says handing me a small box. I was half afraid to open it, but the curiosity got to me.

"Logan," I muttered softly as I felt the tears creeping upon me. "When did you take this?" I questioned as he sits down beside me.

"I took it on the journey here. You were sleeping on the loveseat in the motor house and you had laid your hands on your belly and I knew I had to take the photo. It was the first time I had seen you so relaxed," he says as I lean back against him.

"It's perfect," I say as I move my attention back on the TV that had been forgotten by the tender moment. I wasn't surprised to see that the 09ers had all been spared. It seemed that everyone else was on the bus. I noticed though that Meg Manning was standing near Mac. I missed Mac, but it felt right to see them together.

"Do you plan on telling me where we are?" I asked as I got out of the shower. I had decided to color my hair and then shower before bed.

"We are actually back in Neptune," he says as he sits up in the bed while I lay down next to him wrapping my arms around his waist.

"Are we safe here?" I questioned as panic began to fill me almost suffocating me.

"Veronica, breath it's going to be alright. I made sure that we weren't followed and that's why I changed my hair and you had to change yours. When people look at us they'll just see two in love people," he says coaxing me slowly to breath.

"I don't like being this close to home after we fled and all," I muttered as he nodded his head.

"I know that. I didn't want to come back here, but I thought what better way to outsmart the Fitzpatrick's was to go to the one place they probably wouldn't look," he says smiling as I do see his reasoning.

"I just hope we aren't sitting ducks here," I finally say as he pulls me closer to his chest.

"No, Veronica. I wouldn't do that to you. I care too much for you and our future to do anything to jeopardize it. If you would feel comfortable we can leave anytime you want," he murmurs in my ear.

"It's nice to know that my dad is close," I say as I feel the night settling in. I knew we had more to discuss, but that could wait for the morning. Right, now I wanted to sleep. The rest of the world could wait.


	8. Chapter 8

Fighting for LoVe

Chapter 8: Break Through

 **Logan**

It's been almost a week since we learned about the bus crash. Veronica has been going crazy with the lack of information being given by the police department. I literally had to stop her from going to the Sheriff's station and knocking some sense into Lamb, not that anyone would really mind.

"Hey," I say as she walks out onto the deck of the yacht looking just a beautiful as always. She had layered her hair to bring the mahogany color out.

"Morning," she mutters as she curls up next to me pulling the blanket off the back of the seat around her. "How long have you been up?" she questions as she takes my half cup of coffee.

"Not long," I say wrapping an arm around her. I had only been up for half an hour or so really.

"I hate that I can't do anything to help our friends out," she says as I pull her closer. I knew the feeling.

"I know, but we can't get caught just yet," I say as I feel her head nod. "Although, I know not doing anything is killing you so I thought maybe if you can behave yourself we would o do something special," I say as I feel her move her head off of my chest to look up at me.

"Really," she says with a full smile on her face.

"Yes, but we have to take some precautions though," I say as I see her looking at me.

"Okay, like you hold my hand when we cross the road or buy me a pony," she says smirking at me as I chuckle at her crazy thoughts.

"You think you're so funny," I mutter jokingly as I touch the tip of her nose.

"Yes, I do," she replies kissing me. "Isn't that why you fell head over heels for me," she says smiling up at me.

"Actually, no it isn't," I honestly say smiling back at her as she nudges me in the side.

"What?" she snaps moving away from me.

"We were 12 when I first met you. I have loved you that long. When Duncan and I went to the soccer game the first thing I noticed was your ponytails and knee socks. God, you were the perfect vision to me all sweaty and muddy from playing," I say remembering the first time we met.

"You're a dork," she remarks as I just chuckle.

"Sure, but I was. Lilly then pointed out nicely that I was way out of your league," I say thinking back to the 13 year old Lilly who demanded I leave her best friend alone that day.

"Yet, you dated Lilly," she says softly as I just nod my head because she was right.

"It was actually something she told me that made me decide not to go after you. She told me I would corrupt you with my wicked ways. Although I don't think she really knew you because I think you have corrupted me," I joke as she pushes me.

"I think you need to rethink that buddy. You have corrupted me totally," she says smiling at me.

"Anyway I thought we would venture into town a little and go to the pound, and maybe get something to eat on the beach close by," I say as she looks past me out the clear plastic that was covering the back of the yacht. I hadn't drawn it up.

"I do believe that is a great plan buddy," she says getting up off the sofa bench and headed into the cabin area. I followed closely behind her to rinse my now empty coffee cup. I heard her rummage in the bedroom, but decided to let her do her thing. I knew Veronica was adjusting still to things and I wanted to be as supportive as possible.

***LoVe***

 **Veronica**

I was super excited at the thought that we would be leaving the yacht. I mean Logan has gone a few times and did things, but I stayed behind. I didn't want to draw too much attention to myself while away from the yacht and all, plus I felt like Logan needed me close by. I had just finished part of a new disguise as I pulled the small baby bump I made while waiting for him the other day. I wrapped it around my midsection and fastened it with the ace bandage I found in the medicine cabinet. I pulled on a summer dress I had bought one day in San Francisco thinking I probably would never wear it. Then I fished throw our fake ID's to get a new set. I knew since we were found in San Francisco it was probably a good idea to not use that alias for now.

"Are you almost done?" Logan called out as I switched my identification in my wallet and put the other away in my drawer for the time being. I was now Victoria Ares. I wasn't too thrilled about the name but at least Logan could still call me V.

"Here you go," I say softly as I hand him the new ID with the name Landis Ares.

"Landis," he says as he pulls his wallet out and switches out his old ID for his new as well. "Let's get going before you actually decide you are hungry," he says smiling as I pull on my tennis shoes. I had become very attached to wearing them now due to all the walking and things we did before hand.

"Ha, Ha, make jokes about the pregnant woman," I say as he smiles at me. We exit the back of the yacht and he locks the door before joining me on the dock.

"I love your new costume by the way," he whispers in my ear as he reaches for my hand while we walk past an older couple walking their dog.

"Well, I made it the other day thinking we might need better disguises other than a set of sunglasses," I joke as he pulls on a pair we picked up on the wharf.

"Lovely, come on I picked up an old car that would fit us and our things if we needed to high tail it if we were out and about," he says leading me to an Honda CRV.

"This thing is not too old," I mutter as he helps me in the passenger side.

"I know, but I picked it up for us. I have some reserve cash stashed in here, as well as a few other things we might new in a quick getaway," he says sliding into the driver's seat.

"Thanks," I say trying hard not to let the tears that are hiding behind my lids from falling.

"Hey, I'm part of the reason they're after us. I will not let anything happen to you or our family. I mean it Veronica," he says as I nod my head. Logan only had two sides; he either loved you over bearingly or hated you with a passion. I have seen both side of him and prefer overbearing any day.

Logan began the drive to the other side of town to get to the pound. It was hard seeing so many of the places I had missed while we were away. It didn't hit me until we drove by Neptune High. The students were all out in the parking lot mingling and I began to feel guilty, but it seemed to melt away the moment Logan took my hand in his. There was no need for an exchange of words, we just got each other. Before long he was pulling into the pound.

"No Pit bull," I say as he helps me out of the CRV.

"Okay," he replied taking my hand in his once again and led me to the door opening it and following me in.

"Welcome to the Neptune Pound," the over eager lady behind the counter said we a huge smile. "My name is Sara. How can I help you?" she asks as I watch Logan move closer to me.

"We're looking for a dog," he says picking up a flyer and looking over the dogs on it.

"Would you like a full grown dog or a puppy?" she questions as she opens the gate for us to follow her. As we passed by the dogs, I felt my heart tighten as I thought of Backup without me. We had gone several stalls when I stopped as I saw a puppy all curled up in himself. It was brown and tan with what looked like a white undercoat, but I couldn't be sure. I stopped and kneeled close to the stall.

"Landis," I say as I see the little puppy unraveling slightly.

"That one there is the last of her litter. She's a Serbian Husky. She's roughly a month old and hasn't been named yet. It seems nothing tends to stick to her," Sara says as she moves to the next stall. "I think this dog right here is what you're looking for," she says as I see Logan kneel next to me.

"My wife would like this one here," he states as Sara moves back to the stall.

"She's a handful. I mean for two people expecting I assume that puppy will be a lot of work," she continues.

"Well if you knew my wife here, you'd understand I can take care of a handful because she is one," he jokes as I look up at him while the puppy moves closer to me. I was in love with her already. Sara waited until Logan had purchased a collar and leash to take her out. I now was holding the leash as the puppy was going in and out of my legs.

"Do you have a home address," Sara ask as I look toward Logan.

"No, we use the PO Box I gave you for everything," he says as I watch him closely. She smiles slowly and then finishes up with the paperwork. I make my way out the door into the sun shine as our new friend decides she needs to use the bathroom. I take her to the grassy area as she relives herself.

"Do you still want to go to the beach?" Logan asks as he moves toward me.

"Can we pick something up and just go home?" I ask as he gives me a small smile as he looked over my shoulder. I turn to see my dad getting out of his car across the street talking with someone, but I couldn't be sure who it was. "Let's go before he sees us," I finally manage to say as I watched him duck into the coffee shop.

"I'm sorry," Logan says as he helps me into the CRV once again.

"You didn't do anything. It just sucks to see him and not be able to do anything about it," I say as I put the seat belt on.

"Yeah, I'll be right back," he says as he heads back into the pound. I feel like getting out once again just as he emerges.

"What were you doing?" I asked as he got in the car.

"I asked Sara if she'd head over to the coffee shop and give your dad a note. I thought if we did it that way no one would be any the wiser we were in town," he says as I slap him.

"Logan that could lead Liam and his goons to us," I yell as he pulls out of the spot.

"Calm down Veronica," he says loudly causing me to stop. "The PO Box I gave was from San Diego. The phone number I used was from a burner listed in San Diego. I made sure to tell her I had seen him once and wanted him to know what his book meant to me," he says as I turn to look at him again. I knew my dad had written a book regarding the murder of Lilly Kane and of course the murderer himself Aaron Echolls.

"I'm sorry, it's just I want to stay here," I finally say as he pulls into the parking lot of Mama Leone's. "Logan," I say exhausted.

"I phoned in the order. I'm just picking it up," he says quietly as he gets out of the car and heads into the restaurant. I turn to look over at my sleeping puppy and smile as I see her all stretched out on the back seat.

***LoVe***

 **Keith**

I was meeting up with one of my buddies in regards to both Veronica and about the bus crash. I had been sitting in my car waiting for my guy when I saw a young woman step out of the pound with what looked like a puppy. It seemed like she was in love with it the way she kneeled down and watched it. I remembered when Veronica had first gotten Backup she was the same way. She loved him. I saw my man getting out of his truck two cars from me when I watched a guy exit the pound and join the girl. It must be their first puppy.

"Keith, thanks for meeting me," Sacks says as he looks around before entering the coffee shop with me.

"Have you found any evidence that shows foul play?" I question as the waitress brings both of us a cup of coffee.

"I don't know, Lamb won't let me near the crime scene evidence," he replies as I look up to a woman vaguely familiar to me. She walks toward our table and stops as she smiles at me.

"Keith, I haven't seen you in forever," she says keeping her smile in place.

"Right, um have we met," I finally say as she looks from me to Sacks.

"I was friends with Lianne. You actually arrested me one time before for drinking. Anyway I was asked to pass this along to you by a couple who just adopted a puppy," she says handing me a folded piece of paper.

"Thanks," I manage to say as she walks away waving at Sacks.

"Aren't you going to read it?" he questions as I slip the note in my pocket.

"Not right now. I don't understand why Lamb isn't allowing you in on the bus crash investigation," I say as I drink a little of my coffee.

"Don't know, but the older Cassablancas kid came in twice to tell him about hearing an explosion or what sounded like a boom and then tires screeching. Lamb just shrugged him off like he wasn't worth his time," Sacks says as I already knew this.

"Did anyone else hear anything?" I ask as he shakes his head.

"I guess it was a good thing that the Manny girl wasn't on the bus. Her parents are raising hell with Lamb wanting to know how close they were to losing their daughter. The other girl Mackenzie she has been in once to see if anything had been found out," he replies sipping on his drink.

"Mac was friends with Veronica. I've seen her around a couple of times," I say as he nods his head. Of course I had picked them up before the crash happened since they were left at the gas station.

"Have you found anything out about Veronica or Logan?" he asks as I shake my head.

"Not much. I had a friend who tracked them to San Francisco, but that was due to the fact that two of the Fitzpatrick's had made their way there. They were long gone before he was able to check out the lead.

"Lamb is keeping a tighter lip on the Echolls evidence as well. I don't think anyone other than him has seen Logan's evidence from the night on the bridge. I know that a flash disk was found, but it disappeared shortly after Logan was named a suspect," Sacks says as I knew this as well. It had made the newspaper about the missing evidence.

"How has the book tour been?" he asks as the waitress brings more coffee over to us.

"It was different. I liked the fact I got to tell my side, but it meant little knowing Veronica is missing. I don't really trust Logan right now," I say as he chuckles.

"I'm sure they aren't doing anything they shouldn't be doing," he says laughing as he tosses several dollars on the table.

"That's what I'm afraid of," I mutter tossing some money on the table as well.

"Well if I hear anything I'll let you know," he says as he walks out of the coffee shop. I turn to see Wallace walking into the shop with Darrell.

"Hey Mr. Mars," Wallace says as I give Darrell a high five. "Mom sent us out for pastries just in case you came over," he says smiling as I laugh. I had taken to spending more time with Alicia since the fire and all. She had been the first person I saw when I woke up in the hospital. Veronica had called her to sit with me.

"I should be by. I have to run by the office, but won't be too long," I say handing some bills to the cashier as they take the pastries with them. I head to my beat up car and get in. I am about to turn my key when I remember the note from the lady. I pull it out of my pocket and open it up.

' _Keith— We are safe and doing well. Please keep yourself safe, will try to get in contact with you at some point. LoVe'_

It had to be a note from the kids, but how the hell had they gotten it to the lady. Damn it, the young couple with the dog. I rush over to the pound and question the lady, but all the information she gave me led to dead ends. The PO Box was a decoy and the number was disconnected. I asked her if they left anything else, but she shook her head. They were right in front of me and I was too blind to see it.


	9. Chapter 9

Fighting for LoVe

Chapter 9: Fresh Beginnings

 **Meg**

I don't know how Veronica went about her exile from the 09ers because it for me it sucks. Duncan has basically cut me out without even saying anything, and turned everyone against me. Yet, for some unknown reason Dick is hanging around more. I think his reasoning is more in the lines of a certain new friend of mine. 

"How are you feeling this morning?" Mac asks me as she sits down beside me. 

"Fine," I say giving her a smile which she in turn laughed at. 

"How is the legal stuff going with you right now?" she asks as I hand her a folder with something's in it pertaining to emancipation. I was working with Mr. Mars trying to get myself legally emancipated from my parents, but they were doing everything in their power to hinder all of it. I was fortunate to have Keith on my side after I turned over all the evidence I had collected of the way my parents treated me and my sisters. I had been smart and took lots of photographs, and recorded some of my dad's harsher ramblings over the past year or so.

"How are my two fine girls this morning?" Wallace asks as he sneaks up behind us.

"Good, and you," I laugh as he sits down beside me.

"Probably better than I should be after the party Dick threw last night," he mutters just as Dick and Beaver walk into the quad area. Beaver heads over toward the 09er table while Dick moves toward us. It still amazed me sometimes thinking how they were related. Beaver was so withdrawn, where Dick was so vocal.

"How are you guys doing today?" he says as I watch Mac give him a look that I wasn't sure what it meant.

"Evidently better than some," I joke as Mac laughs with me. We had decided not to attend the party Dick threw for the kids who died in the bus crash, instead I hung out with Mac at her house. I loved how motherly her mom was. I wished that my own mom cared more for me than going along with how my dad treated my sisters and me.

"Laugh it up," Wallace says as Dick sits down next to Mac. I look up as I see Duncan walking into the area with some girl trailing behind him like a lost puppy.

"Hey, don't let him get you down. Meg you are better than him," Dick says which startles me a little. Mac was making him more human.

"I know that, but it's just hard watching him treat me like he is after knowing the jerk he was to Veronica. I don't know how I let him sweet talk me into dating him. I should have broken up with him the night of Logan's party. I saw how he looked at Veronica, but he told me it meant nothing," I say as I felt Wallace wrap an arm around my shoulders.

"Well then it's a good thing you have us as your friends because Veronica would kick all of our butts if we let you dwell on him any longer. Let's go to class," Dick says just as the morning bell rings. I laughed because we were a weird group of friends, but I was glad to have them as mine.

***LoVe***

 **Logan**

I turned over to reach for Veronica, but she was gone. I quickly sat up and looked around our small bedroom, but didn't see her. I threw the covers off and jumped out of the bed rushing into the living room and out the back door. I found the love of my life curled up with our new puppy lying on the small sofa. I sat on the edge of the couch watching her sleep as Rosie began to nudge me. Veronica decided to call her of all things Rosie after some code or something.

"Come on," I mutter as I pick the pup up and fastened her leash to her collar. I unzip the plastic and walk out into the bright morning light. An elderly man walks by me and shakes his head. I look down to see I am in my trunks and nothing else. I was surprised I even had that on since I didn't check what I was wearing when I jumped out of bed.

"Here," I hear from behind me as I turn around Veronica is standing behind me holding out a shirt. I pull it on and then she reaches for my hand. "You could have just woken me up," she says as we walk down the pair to the beach part next to it.

"I know, but you looked so beautiful. I didn't want to wake you," I say as I let Rosie off the leash and we watch her explore her new area.

***LoVe***

 **Veronica**

Logan and I spent most of the morning hanging out on the beach just relishing in the cool crisp air. I watched him get excited several times as a few of the surfers would catch a cool wave and ride it in. I knew in that moment he missed his life. Hell to be honest I missed mine as well. I hated not being able to see my dad every day, even on the days he would challenge me. I knew at some point our lives would maybe go back to normal, but I was beginning to fear normal. I had grown too close to Logan to let him go, and now with a baby on the way I wouldn't be able to handle losing him.

"Earth to Mars," I hear Logan say as he begins to move toward getting up as I nudge him in the ribs. He laughs as I see he has already put Rosie back on her leash and was ready to head back to the yacht.

"Awe, but it's so calm out here," I mutter holding out my hand for him to help me up he pulls me to my feet handing me the leash that was fully attached to our squirming puppy.

"You looked like you were lost in thought there for a moment," he whispers as I lean into his side feeling the cool ocean air around us. I should have remembered a shawl or sweater, but I had forgotten it in my haste to get to him before he took off. "Come on, it's getting chilly out here," he says pulling me closer to him as we walked back toward the yacht.

Logan ushered me to the sofa as he took Rosie off her leash and went into the kitchen area. I smiled as Rosie jumped up on the sofa curling up next to me as Logan began pulling things out of the cabinet. I was thankful that he hooked up the cable because I flipped on the television to see what was on. I decided to settle on some boring cooking show as I watched Logan fixing something in the kitchen. He seemed so at peace, more so than what I thought he would have been if it weren't for the situation we were in.

***LoVe***

 **Logan**

I could tell as we went back to the yacht that there was something bothering Veronica, but I knew if I pushed her she would just shut down. I decided the best thing for me to do was feed her. I watched her as I ushered her onto the sofa in the living room, while Rosie claimed her spot right next to her mommy. I was struck with the thought that we were going to have a real little one in a few months. I pulled out the things I would need to make Alfredo for lunch since we skipped breakfast to hang out on the beach.

It amazed me to how calm and collective Veronica has been since going on the run, and then taking this big step with me. I knew it wasn't the easiest thing in the world but I felt better about all of it knowing she was right here beside me. "Hey," I hear from the tight side as I turn to see Veronica standing beside of me.

"Sorry," I say as I stir the angel hair absent mindly.

"Where were you just now?" she questions as I put the spoon in the sauce and stir it.

"I was right here, just thinking about how lucky I am," I say honestly as she puts her arms around my waist.

"You sure are," she mutters into my shoulder as she leans her head into my back.

"Did you need something?" I ask as she holds tight.

"No, I was watching the cooking channel looked over here and you seemed out of it," she says as I chuckle. It was strange how we seemed to know things about each other when before all this happened probably would never had crossed our minds.

I made sure to finish up our lunch without burning it or forgetting the salad or fresh baked bread. Veronica was already seated at the counter waiting for me to serve her as I put all the last minute touches on the food.

"This is pretty good," she says in between bites. I had picked up simple cooking recipes over the last few months while we had been on the run. If I had my way we would have eaten at fine dinning restaurants, but we were trying to keep a low profile. I had always had someone cook for me, so this had been a new concept for me.

"How are you feeling?" I questioned as she finished up her last bite of pasta looking toward my half eaten portion. "Do you want more," I asked as she shakes her head.

"No, I was just noticing you didn't eat much," she replied as I collected the dishes. I cleaned the kitchen up, putting the leftover food in a container and placing it in the fridge while loading the dishwasher. I looked over to see Veronica was back on the sofa.

As I finished up and wiped the counters down I grabbed a bottle of water and headed to the sofa. The TV was on some old channel because the show was in black and white. I wasn't sure if Veronica was really watching the channel or deep in thought. I began thinking about the things we would need to do as I felt Veronica move closer to me on the sofa as she pulled her legs up leaning more into my side. 

"Logan at some point we are going to need to get help from somewhere," she says as I watch her scratching Rosie behind her ears. 

"I know, but how would we or could we involve someone else into this mess while things aren't settled with the Fitzgerald's," I say as I watch her mull over what she wanted to say. 

"I know, I was thinking about sending my dad a copy of the video from the night on the bridge. He has connections that might help him get it out to the media," she says as I ponder over what she was saying. I mean if her dad was on board with what was going on it could help us to come home. I wasn't sure how I felt about that because then we wouldn't be together anymore. I wanted to pull away from her, but I couldn't bring myself to pull away from her. 

"Logan," she says softly pulling me from my thoughts. 

"Yeah," I say as she moves closer to me. 

"Where did you just go?" she questions me as I turn slightly to look at her better. 

"I was thinking about how it would be nice to go home, but I'm not looking forward to losing this," I muttered getting up. 

"If we get help, it doesn't mean we can go home. I'm just looking at asking my dad to help us get back," she says standing up and moving closer to me making me move away from her. "This isn't a faze for me Logan. I want you to know when and if we get home I'm not leaving you. If I have to choose between you or going home I am going to chose you. I will choose us," she says getting up on her tippy toes she kisses me. I pull her flush to me deepening the kiss until Rosie decides to start whining because we weren't focused on her.

***LoVe***

 **Keith**

"Mr. Mars, you got some letter here with no return address," Wallace says as he enters the office. Wallace and Mac took turns working in the office handling phone calls and other things like Veronica did so that I could focus on my cases and where my errand daughter was.

"Bring it in here," I call out as he enters with Meg following close behind. Meg had been staying in Veronica's room since she moved out of her parents' house. I had been helping her get out of their legal control. "Meg, is everything alright," I asked as she smiled and handed me a small photo.

"I thought you would like to see the first photo," she said sitting down across from me. I looked at the clear photo of a baby's head as he or she was sucking on their thumb.

"Is everything going alright with him or her?" I asked as I looked over to where Wallace was sitting outside of my office. He was busy separating the files I left on the desk.

"Yes, she is doing well," she replies as I give her a big smile. Meg was having a little girl. I knew now I needed to help her even more knowing how her family and others treated their daughters. I wasn't going to allow anything to happen to this little baby or her mother. I had taken a liking to Meg. She reminded me a lot of Veronica. I was handing the phot back when she held her hand up. "No, that is your copy. I have a few others. I thought you would like one since I am staying with you currently. You have been so great," she says as I stand up walking around the desk to hug her as she stood up. She didn't look too big, but I knew she was expecting and so did Mac.

"Thank you," I say pulling her into a big hug. "This means a lot to me," I say as I held her.

"Veronica will come home one day," she whispers as I nod my head letting her go.

"Why don't you head back to the apartment, do some homework and I'll pick up dinner," I say as I usher her into the reception area only to see a very livid Mr. Manning with the Sheriff waiting for me. "Meg wait in my office, Wallace head in there as well," I say as both teens head into the room and I close the door.

"This is what I mean. I want that man arrested for kidnapping my daughter and brain washing her," Mr. Manning snaps as I keep my thoughts to myself of what I would like to do to the vile man in front of me.

"Sheriff, Meg Manning has filed for emancipation from her parents and is staying with me until the hearing. Judge Matthews has agreed to his arrangement and there was an order requesting Mr. and Mrs. Manning to stay 50 feet away from their daughter until this was settled," I say as I moved toward the file cabinets and opened the top drawer where her file was and plucked out a copy of the papers.

""My hands are tied, until this goes to court," Dan finally says as he looks over the papers I handed him moments ago. He goes to hand them back, but I hold up my hand.

"I have another set. Mr. Manning next time you accost me or Meg I will have you arrested. I might not have the power or money you have, but what you have done to her and her sisters is despicable. I would love nothing more than to see you rot behind bars in a cell with no window like you make you daughters do when they've misbehaved," I say to him as I see Don look a little ashen. I guess he wasn't fully aware of the situation he had just stumbled upon.

I was looking over the files still on Wallace's desk when the package he spoke about caught my eye. I picked it up and went to my office door to send the kids home. I opened the door as I watched Meg looking down out the window. She turned to look in my direction as Wallace picked up the book he was reading.

"Wallace, can you escort Meg back to your house. I'll text your mom," I say as the kids picked up their things and headed out. I watched out the window as both of them got into their cars and headed out. I quickly texted Alicia asking her if Meg could stay there until I came for dinner, she agreed telling me we would talk about it later. I looked back at the large manila envelop before ripping it open. A folded later and a flash disk landed on my desk with a thud. I opened the letter first.

 _Dad,_

 _I know you have a lot of questions that I wish I could give you answers to, but right now I can't. I hated having to leave, but I knew in order to protect you and myself I had to. I hope you haven't been worrying too much about me. I am safe and sound. I am currently with Logan. There are so many things I would to say, but I don't think it's safe for me to do so._

 _The flash disk is what really happened on the Coronado Bridge the night Felix was killed. Logan didn't do it, but one of the Fitzpatrick's did. I was ran out of town due to them putting a hit out for me. I am only trying to keep you safe. I love you so very much daddy,_

 _Love Veronica_

 _Ps. I'm sorry if I have hurt you in any way by running away, that was never my intention. I hope to be in contact as soon as I can find the materials I need for a secured and untraceable method._

I fell back into my chair holding the only contact I have gotten in more than 4 months. It was just hard to believe how my baby girl could be able to survive on her own during this time. I picked up the flash disk and fiddled with it until I opened it, but decided I probably should head out to get dinner and meet Alicia and all. I put the disk in my coat pocket, closed out the lights and made my way to the front office door before realizing I left Veronica's note on my desk. I went back picked it up folding it and putting it in my pocket as well while I tossed the envelop and returned to the door once again.

I was just about to get in my car when I felt a hand on my shoulder. I turned around quickly swinging my arm knocking my elbow right into the person behind me. "Damn it Keith," Don Lamb says putting pressure on his nose. "What the hell was that for?" he snaps as I see him remove his hand while touching his nose. It wasn't broken or bleeding.

"I didn't know it was you," I say as I watch him look to the ground and then back up.

"Yeah, I probably should have announced I was behind you," he mutters before looking around the streets. "What you said to the Manning father, is it true," he says as I look back at the man who prided himself on being an ass all the time.

"Yes, he believes that his religion calls for the discipline he instills to his daughters. Meg hates not being able to protect her sisters, but she couldn't stay there any longer," I say as Don holds up his hand.

"What do you need?" he questions as I tell him a little more information about what I was trying to gather and the things I was looking into for Meg. He nodded his head and listened to me as I told him how Meg says her father looks them in a hidden passage in their closets when they misbehave to teach them structure. He tells me he will look into it.

"Don, was there any evidence in the biker kids death," I ask as I see him turn toward me before stepping closer.

"There was some, but it disappeared. I don't know how or who took it, but I wasn't involved in it. Veronica left everything all wrapped up and sealed for us, but once it was checked into evidence it disappeared," he mutters as I feel the weight of the disk in my pocket.

"Veronica probably has a copy, but too bad for us she isn't here," I mutter as I look back at him. Don for the first time winces slightly under my gaze.

"She left a note stating that as well as the fact that she had the actual murder weapon. I hadn't even looked at the video before it disappeared. Yet, I have a feeling it wasn't Logan Echolls or her, but either a biker turned or someone else who pulls the strings of people in our town," he says walking away leaving me puzzled over our conversation.


	10. Chapter 10

Fighting for LoVe

Chapter 10: Rehashing of Pain

 **Keith**

The thought that it was Logan who got Veronica in deep with the Fitzpatrick's which didn't sit well with me. Yet with all of the evidence and the things that have been going on I am finding it more and more realistic that it was Veronica who got mixed up with them and Logan is somehow thrown into the mix. I was taking a little breather hoping that Logan Echolls would protect her because I sure wasn't able to. I mean after finding out that his father was a cold blooded murderer didn't help quench my fear for my daughter, but I knew I had to let her be if I was going to bring her home safely.

I was certain after watching the damn video of what really happened on the bridge that both Logan and Veronica couldn't have seen what would be in store for them. It ticked me off to see the PCHers jump him, and even more mad as I had to watch helplessly as Liam Fitzpatrick got his hands on my daughter. I was so angry that if it weren't for the fact that I wouldn't be able to help Veronica or Logan behind bars. I just wanted to go to the jerk and wrap my hands around his neck and kill him.

"Keith, you coming to bed," Alicia asked me as I went to watch the video once again.

"Sure," I say as I close out the video and remove the USB drive and put it in the secret pocket of my jacket. I had already placed the note and letter from the kids in it. I closed out my laptop and headed to bed. Meg and I had decided to stay at Alicia's until I was certain that the Manning's couldn't get to her. I wasn't going to lose her to their wickedness.

"Everything alright," Alicia asks as I climb into the bed. She had turned out her lamp, but had left mine on for me. I had wanted to sleep on the couch, but she was adamant that as soon as Veronica came home we would get married and be a family. I was certain she was the person I was meant to be with because she cared just as much as I did about the injustice that had been happening in our town.

"Things will be better once our family is together," I say as she moves closer to me. I pull her close as I lean back and turn the light off. I just need to let this go for now and focus on everything that I could do something about. I needed my head in the game to make sure that Meg and her baby would be safe. I also needed to find a way to help bring her two younger sisters out of that dark house. I felt sleep take me almost as soon as I felt Alicia slip off to sleep.

****LoVe****

 **Veronica**

It had been a week since I mailed my dad the letter with the USB drive. Logan and I had talked about what we wanted to do and I suggested it, but at first he was worried about how it was going to play out. Yet he trusted me enough to do it. I wrote the letter and copied the video making sure not to send the only copy.

I felt bad for Logan because he thought if I sent my dad the info and the letter I would leave him. No, I didn't like the fact that I was on the run like this, but I wouldn't trade it for anything in the world. It really tore at my soul to think that Logan would ever think I would leave him once this was all over. I knew he had to know just how much he meant to me. I Now I was looking over at Logan as the sun was peeking through the curtains of the window.

"You know it's creepy when you lay there staring at me," Logan says softly pulling me closer to him. It amazed me how in tune he seemed to be with me.

"I thought you were sleeping still," I laughed as he began tickling me.

"I was until I felt you move. I knew it was either because you were getting up or going to stare at me," he snickers as I begin to wiggle in his arms.

"Whatever," I say as he begins to kiss my neck softly and I could feel him behind me.

"Sorry, buddy we are not doing that right now," I say as I begin to get up pulling on my robe and tying it around me.

"Vee, seriously," he mutters as he chuckles.

"I'm sorry, but we have a full schedule," I say as I open our door to find Rosie waiting for me. The moment she saw me she got up and moved toward where we kept her leash.

"You want me to join you guys or are you okay with her," Logan asks as he comes into the living room area where his swim shorts and a t-shirt.

"Nah, I'm going to only go out on the deck and have her use the grass patch you bought her," I say smiling as I remember him picking it up when we drove into San Diego a few days ago. Logan wasn't sure who would recognize us in town and thought it would be better for us to do our major shopping elsewhere to keep people from finding us.

I watched the people walking on the pier as I waited for Rosie to do her business. Our yacht was in between two other yachts that where about our size, but different models. I couldn't tell what they were or anything else about them. To me they were just another big boat or yacht. An older couple about my dad's age lived on the right of us. They kept to themselves most of the time. They did wave at us if they saw us out or we walked by, but other than that nothing else went on with us. A man lived on the left of us and he seemed to like to party. He had drunken parties ever weekend. I didn't like it, but Logan told me we would just keep away from him and his group.

"Hey, you ready for some food," Logan asks as he has two plates in his hands. He sets them both down on the table motioning for me to join him. I made sure that the gate leading off the yacht was closed and moved to sit across from him. Rosie just began sniffing around her space.

"This is really good," I say as I look over the spread he made for us. There was fresh cut strawberries, pineapple, raspberries, toast with nutella, and orange juice. We had to do away with eggs because the smell made me sick. He said we could eat so many pancakes in a week and put a limit on them. I had to admit Logan has been very acceptable and endearing through all of this. He is more protective now that he knows there is another person in the mix, but that's always been him to a degree. I hated the fact that I doubted him for a second when I found out he had drove back to Neptune before Lilly was murdered.

"What is going on in that head of yours?" he questioned as I looked back over at him. He had grown up so much in the last few months, long gone was his bleached tips for a dark rich brown and his tanned skin was even browner from the amount of time we spend on the beach or just outside. He wasn't the same rich surfer boy who ran with me; no he was more grown up and responsible.

"I was thinking about how grown up you have become," I say smiling as I eat a berry.

"Yeah, no more trust fund bad boy to smooch off," he jokes causing me to smile even brighter.

"Sort of, even though you did snag a decent about of money before we left, no, more around the lines of how much I need and depend on you. I have to admit this worries me a little," I say as I could see him change his facial expression.

"I have thought about that a few times as well. Vee, I know how independent you are, but it's not just us anymore. I'll admit this whole idea worries and scares me at the same time, but I know once this is all over we'll be better," he says picking at his food now.

"I didn't tell you this to stress you out. Lo, I know that after we go home it's going to be you. I am not going to run off with anyone else. I have grown close to you over the last four months and don't plan on letting you go. I know my dad will be a tuff sell, but I don't think I could bear not having you in my life," I say moving to sit closer to him.

"That's good to hear," he says laying his head on my shoulder. I hated that we had to get close this way, but I wouldn't change it for anything in the world. I knew we both had abandonment issues with our moms, but I had a great dad and I know he'd help both of us or die trying. What am I saying he got burned, and almost died saving me from a burning fridge? "Vee, everything is going to be alright. If your dad is on board I don't see how things can get worse," Logan says giving me a nudge as I moved to get up. He picked up our dishes as we headed back inside. Rosie stayed outside curled up on the bench near the gate.

Logan loaded the dishwasher with the morning dishes as I went to get dressed. I looked through all the shorts and shirts I had but didn't like anything I had looked at. I decided to pull on one of the sundresses we picked up while we were in town. Logan said it would help hide my invisible baby bump. It wasn't showing just yet, but with the fake bump I now have a little meat on me. I looked at the mirror to see someone who wasn't me, but was me. I had dark brown mahogany hair in layers with bangs, and my blue eyes were now hidden behind brown contact lens. I didn't hate who I had become, it was just hard not being able to be me.

***LoVe***

 **Logan**

It still amazed me at how open Veronica had become. I know after the last year that she had because of me and my friends she should be more closed off, yet here she is with me. I vaguely remember the night on the Coronado Bridge, but I do remember her finding me and sending me home. I couldn't think of anything else but her the whole way to my house. I was so worried that she had been hurt, worse killed because of my reckless behavior. I knew Weevil wouldn't hurt her, but all bets were off with his buddies.

I can clearly remember her coming to my house and sweet talking me into doing her bidding, I don't remember much after that. I can still feel how alone I felt once I woke up alone. I knew in that moment I couldn't be without her. I know that was the best decision I ever made. A world without Veronica in it would devastate me. I know I felt betrayed by her thinking I would ever be able to hurt Lilly, but I knew the evidence was stacked up against me. I would never have thought my own father would have been capable of murdering her though. I knew he hurt me, but he never touched Trina.

As I watched her finish up getting ready I pulled on my own shirt running my fingers through my shaggy brown hair. It wasn't too difficult for me to give up the blonde tips everyone was familiar with. I totally knew how much Veronica hated them, but I kept them just to drive her crazy. I was worried for a little while staying over with the Kanes because Lilly use to remark all the time how Veronica and she were going to come into my room one night and shave my head. I can't stop myself as I chuckle at the memory.

"Everything alright," Veronica asks as she moves closer to me.

"Yeah, just thinking about how Lilly would tease me about shaving my head because of the blonde tips," I say smiling at her as I watched her rub her stomach.

"Oh my God you were terrified of sleeping for a whole week because you actually thought we would do that," she says joining in on my giggling. "Logan, do you think our fiends miss us," she asks quietly as I turn to look right at her.

"Yes, of course they do. I'm not totally sure all of mine do, but I'm sure your little band of misfits miss you. You were the glue that kept them together," I say as she gets up off the sofa and holds her hand out for me. We walked out onto the deck of the yacht while Rosie joined us Veronica had to put her leash on to keep her from running off. Rosie liked to chase after the birds and other critters she saw, but today we had a schedule.

As we walked to our beat up Honda CRV I looked around to see if anyone seemed to be looking for us. It was a bad habit that I had started doing every time we left together. I opened the door for her while Rosie jumped in first Veronica followed. I walked around the CRV and climbed into the driver's seat. We were going to have a check up to see how the baby was doing.

***LoVe***

 **Weevil**

I just heard from the black kid Wallie or something that one of my boys was involved with the Fitzpatrick's. I had given up tracking Logan down since I knew if he was with Veronica there would be no way of finding them. The boys had told me that Logan killed Felix, but I wasn't so sure he had it in him to do so. I could still picture him the day he smashed up Veronica's car. It amazed me at how stupid he was since he moved directly in front of her when he saw me, no doubt thinking I was there to hurt her. The boy had it bad for her back then, and he was too blind to see it.

I was trusting that the kid wasn't lying to me, but things had been off in the group for a while now. After Chardo hooking up with the 09er, and having to kick my own blood out for what he did to our family the boys were changing. One thing was for sure if my boys were mixed up with the Irish it wouldn't be pretty. They sold drugs and that was hard to get out of. I hated coming to the clinic, but Abuela needed to see the doctor. I didn't want to go in with her so I stayed in the car.

"Come on," I heard a familiar voice so I turned to see a young couple. I thought for sure it had been a very tempting blonde, but when I looked at the girl who spoke I didn't see the familiar blonde, no it was a brown haired girl a little older than me. She was with a guy who looked at her as if she were the last person on the earth. It made me sick to see the deep emotion coming off the two of them.

I sat in the car for a few minutes until I decided to go inside. I couldn't get that voice out of my head. I knew that voice, but the girl in front of me didn't match the girl from my past. No the girl who went in with the guy was very different from her, but yet the same. Damn it, I think as I see my abuela sitting near the couple. I watched as the guy tried to look at her without drawing attention. I wouldn't be able to swear I knew him, but he seemed familiar as well.

"Violet Martin," I hear a nurse say as I watch the girl stand up followed by the guy. I want to reach out and pull the girl to me to rip off the wig, but for some reason I don't do it. I couldn't do it. I sat down beside my abuela.

"That boy reminded me of Logan," she whispers as I look at her.

"Yeah," I mutter as I make myself comfortable. It wasn't long before my abuela was called in. I thought about running back to the car, but stayed seated as the couple came back out. I could vaguely hear what was being said.

"Mrs. Martin here are the photos of your little one, would you like to schedule your next appointment," the receptionist was saying as I saw the guy turn and look in my direction before whispering to the girl who turned slightly to look in my direction.

"No, we'll call back for one," the guy says as I see him place his hand on the elbow of the girl and go to lead her out. I wait until they are out the door before following them.

"Veronica," I call out as I see the girl turn to look in my direction with panic in her eyes.


	11. Chapter 11

Fighting for LoVe

Chapter 11: Past Mistakes

 **Logan**

Veronica was curiously looking through a magazine before we were called in to see the doctor. I had noticed someone coming in and sitting down near us, but I was more focused on what Veronica was looking at. She had been looking through a baby book which held some neat looking things I knew we would eventually have to get. When we were called in I was so excited that I couldn't keep my hands off of her.

I couldn't believe we just got the confirmation that we were going to be parents in roughly 6 months. I mean Veronica was carrying a little version of her or me inside of her.

"What's going on in that head of yours?" she asks as the nurse steps out to give us some privacy. Veronica is pulling her dress back over her head.

"I am just amazed that there is a little person in here," I say as I place my hand gently on her stomach as she places her hand over mine.

"Yeah, it is amazing," she whispers as I help her up. We open the door to head toward the counter to get the pictures and set up another appointment. I felt as if someone was staring at me. I looked behind me to see the one person that I knew could not only hurt me, but could hurt Veronica even more.

"Vee," I whisper as I tip my head in the direction of Weevil. I tried to do it as unnoticeable as I could without drawing attention to either of us.

"Mrs. Martin here are the photos of your little one, would you like to schedule your next appointment," the receptionist asks as I take two breaths.

"No, we'll call back for one," I say quickly as I reach for Veronica's elbow and help lead her out because if I know her she is struggling to keep herself in character. I know how much she would give just to be herself once again. We were just about to get into the CRV when I heard the name I was dreading since I laid eyes on the damn biker.

"Veronica," Weevil calls out as I see her look from me to him with panic in her eyes. I shake my head as she lets go of my arm and opens the door. I help her in as I walk around the CRV to get in the door. I put my seatbelt on as she buckles herself up before scribbling something on a sheet of paper and tossing it out the window. I pull out of the spot and drive away.

"Are you alright?" I ask as I see her crying.

"Yeah, it was just hard seeing him of all people," she replies as I pull over to look at her. "I didn't tell him where we were, but that I was okay. I also explained he needed to keep his distance," she says as I smile.

"Do you think he'll listen," I ask already knowing the answer as she shakes her head. I knew that was it was worth as try the moment I saw him.

***LoVe***

 **Veronica**

Logan watched closely behind us the whole way back to the marina. I understood his reasons, but I knew Weevil wouldn't do anything to hurt me. He might try to hurt Logan though and that had me very worried. I decided to keep my focus on the photos in my hands. I couldn't believe this was my, no our baby. Logan and I were going to have a little baby.

"Do you want me to grab something from the club, or fix something at home?" Logan asks as I realize we had parked. I finally look up from the photos at him and see worry etched on his face.

"Let's eat at home. I bet the puppy would like to see us," I say smiling as he gets out. I wait for him to walk to my side. I don't know why, but it felt good to have him there opening the door for me. I knew deep down that I had fallen completely in love with him and it both scared me and worried me a little, but I wasn't going to give him any reason to worry. He loved me just as much as I loved him.

***LoVe***

 **Weevil**

I couldn't just let Veronica go without trying to make sure that she wasn't being held without her permission. I mean she didn't even seem like herself. It was as if she had walked out of sometime wrap. The note she dropped was the only thing to go by. I decided the best thing for me to do was get a few of the guys I could trust to keep a look out for her or the Echolls boy. I still needed to know if Paco was responsible for Felix's death or not.

I decided to wait until evening to head to the address that Veronica slipped me. Then I found out I had traitors among my guys. It killed me to see that my guys were turning on me to sale drugs for the Fitzpatrick's. It made my stomach twist and turn to think that they would stoop as low as to work for the same guys who eagerly murdered several of our family members for fun. I couldn't tell who I could trust so I didn't ask any of them for help.

I took my uncle's car to the Marina instead of my bike to keep people from talking. I had pulled it into a parking spot when I noticed a few kids I knew from school making out in the car next to me. It was kind of funny and stupid to see, but I guess rich people didn't care where they got laid. I walked down the docks until I came to the slip number that Veronica had given me. The boat wasn't as big as I thought the Echolls kid would have had if they weren't hiding.

"Don't just stand out there and draw attention to yourself?" I heard a snapped voice say as I looked into the plastic covered area. There stood Logan Echolls.

"Right, as if going to a woman's clinic wouldn't draw attention to you," I snap back as I hear a soft bark behind him.

"Come on boys, play nice," I hear Veronica say as I climb onto the boat. It rocked a little as I moved which made my nerves stand on end.

"Got a nice place here, Vee," I mutter as I follow behind Echolls into a small living area. Where I see Veronica moving toward a sofa sitting down pulling a puppy onto the sofa next to her, while Echolls is stirring something on the stove.

"I thought I told you I was fine," Veronica asks as I sit opposite of her in a recliner. I could tell she had gained some weight, but not much.

"Ya, you did, but come on did you really think I wouldn't check on you after seeing you with him," I snap which made the puppy raise its head and look at me. Logan moved the pot on the stove and walked around to sit beside Veronica. I couldn't help but notice how her body seemed to incline toward him and relax as if they were the same person.

"You came and saw her, not leave us," Logan said looking directly at me.

"No, do you even know how stressed your dad is right now," I yell standing up.

"How the hell would you know how her dad is?" Logan questioned me getting to his feet as well.

"I help him out as does the others," I mutter as I see Veronica look up toward me.

"What do you mean you help him as well as the others?" she finally says.

"It started with Wallace helping out doing paperwork, then Mac followed working out computer things, Dick helps keep food in the place and I take on some of the harder cases the others can't do," I finally admit as I see Veronica pulling on Logan. He sat right back down and pulled her closer to him as I see tears running down her checks.

"It wasn't supposed to be like this. I was just going to disappear until things mellowed out, but I stopped by Logan's after the night on the bridge," she starts and then looks up at him.

"Veronica filmed the whole incident on the bridge. She even took the murder weapon that was used to kill Felix," Logan finally says.

"You know who killed Felix!" I snap loudly which caused her to jump slightly.

"Hey, chill out," Logan says pulling Veronica closer. "She left all the evidence other than the knife at my house. The Sherriff had it, but it mysteriously went missing. We sent another couple to a reliable person, but know it's too dangerous for them to release it just yet," he says as I watch Veronica move a little to look back at me.

"I told you that I knew who killed Lilly, but you were adamant that it was Logan. Weevil, you brought the killers to you on that bridge. They thought that they not only would be rid of Logan, but you and your men as well. You have a traitor among your bikers," she says snidely at me which only made me laugh.

"Yea, I already found that out. Some of my guys are selling drugs for the Fitzpatrick's. I got kicked out earlier tonight," I say sarcastically.

"It's Thumper," Logan says as I look toward Veronica who was moving toward her computer. She opened it and looked as if she was pulling something up. Once it seemed she had things where she wanted them to be Logan brought me the laptop. I could see the familiar scene I had tried for months to recreate in my mind to figure out what the hell had happened on the bridge after Logan had knocked me out.

It was all there as Logan kicked me; the guys dismantled their bikes to take care of him. In the midst of the fight the Fitzpatrick's showed up. I watched in dismay as Thumper went over to them after sending the guys all home. Felix was holding down Logan. I was luckily taken back by one of the other guys. It killed me inside to watch as Thumper stabbed Felix not once but three times before shoving him down next to an unconscious Logan. I stopped the video I had seen enough.

"I believe that Lamb is in the back pocket of the Fitzpatrick's so the evidence that was collected had to be lost," Veronica says as I numbly just nod my head. I couldn't help feeling like I really didn't know what the hell was going on. How could one of my own murder Felix? He never did anything to anyone. He was better than most of us.

"Do you know why thumper murdered Felix for them?" I questioned as I sat back down.

"No, I have no clue," she says as I just nod once more. After that sad omission Logan invited me to eat with them, at first I was going to decline then I realized I was probably the only person who knew where they really were. The talk around the counter was very interesting hearing Veronica speak excitably telling of their little adventure to San Francisco and then back here.

"It's getting late, I should head out," I finally say as I watch Veronica rub her stomach.

"Weevil, I know you might think Logan made me do this, but he didn't. Like I told you, he followed after me. I need you to keep everything we told you a secret. I need my dad to get everything he can to bring about justice," she says as I see Logan pull her closer. It was odd watching them; they seemed to fit perfectly next to each other. It made me wonder why he ended up with Lilly instead of Veronica to begin with.

"Don't worry, your secret is safe with me," I mutter not really wanting to leave her still.

"Veronica," Logan says as I watch her leave him quickly heading in the direction of another room. "I know what you're thinking, but she won't leave," he continues as I see her move back into the room.

"Here, I programmed our number into it. If we have to leave immediately or something happens we'll let you know. I would appreciate the same form you. Once you do make contact though get rid of the phone if we are comprised," she says as I watch Logan shake his head.

"Right," I say as I move to head to the door as I feel two arms wrap around me.

"Please watch them for me," She asks as I turn around to gauge just how Logan seemed to be from this little outburst, but to my surprise he didn't seem fazed once so ever.

"I'll let you know if I hear anything," I finally say before leaving them and heading home. I don't know if I could just sit on the fact that I knew Thumper murdered Felix, but I knew I couldn't do anything that would compromise Veronica. I owed her that much for the time being, but if it took too long I couldn't be held responsible for my actions.


	12. Chapter 12

Fighting for LoVe

Chapter 12: Difficult Discussions

 **Logan**

It had been a trying week as I watched Veronica struggle with reality. I knew things would come up that would need to be handled in a timely manner, but the events that followed after Weevil's visit weren't to be expected. I had a front row seat to the downfall of our lives after Lilly's death, but I was to cause for most of that. This time though it was the mere thoughts of her old life that seemed to tear her away. I hated not knowing what I could do to make things better, but she would tell me things were fine.

"Vee, you can't continue like this," I finally said as I placed a cup of tea in front of her as we sat on the back of the boat.

"Logan, I'm fine," she muttered after taking a sip.

"Don't lie to me," I snapped as I rubbed my hand. She looked up from what she was reading to me.

"What happened?" she questioned looking from my hand to my face. I had gone for a run earlier to release some anger and kinda let loose a little more than I should have.

"I'll live," I said as I watched her stare intently at my bruised knuckles. "I beat up a post down on the beach after my run," I said as she picked up one hand to examine the bruises.

"I see, so what a pair we make," she remarks releasing my hand as she moved closer to me on the bench. "I've just been thinking about all the things we can't change, and what I or should I say we want," she finally states as I feel her hand brushing the skin of my knuckles.

"What do you mean?" I questioned pulling her hand into my lap to hold her to me.

"It's hard to watch as everyone else is living their lives around us. I hate that I let Liam and his family run me away, but at the time I thought it was the better option out of two evils. I wanted to protect my dad, and then you. Now we have a baby to think about and things are still a mess," she replied as I felt her pull her hand away. She turned on the bench to look at me.

"I know," was all I could think to say.

"I miss my dad," she finally breaks as she wraps her arms around me. I knew something was brewing on the horizon, but that one declaration wasn't what I had been expecting.

"Do you want to see your dad?" I asked as she shakes her head.

"No, it's too dangerous and I know if I do then I wouldn't be able to leave him. No, I need to stay away. It doesn't mean I have to like it, but that is moot right now," she replies lifting her head a little to look up at me. I could see the tear stains on her checks as se rubs at them slightly.

"You know whatever you decide I'll be right there beside you," I said as I see her give me a smile.

"I know, but we also need to remember my dad carries a gun and coming home pregnant isn't the best idea. I kinda like you in one piece," she responds giving me a kiss on the cheek.

"I'm not sure if I should be worried, offended or just scared," I retort as she laughs.

"Maybe all the above," she chuckles as she leans back against me. "Once we get through all this things will work their way out," she replies as I feel like the heavy weight I felt encompassing us slowly lift a little.

**LoVe**

 **Veronica**

I knew Logan would worry about me when I began to change, but it was hard seeing Weevil and knowing just how close we were to everyone and yet so far away. I didn't think that I was pulling away from him, but I must have started to. It was odd knowing how affected we were by each other's actions. Logan felt the pain I was going through and I felt his moods just as well. It had been very refreshing to hear him speak so freely and just to be there for me. I had a feeling that no matter what things would somehow work out the way they were supposed to.

"How are you feeling?" he questioned as he came into the bedroom after I had taken a nice long hot bath. I decided to lie on the bed as he finished up cleaning the kitchen from dinner.

"The bath really worked out my sore muscles," I said as he kissed my nose before pulling me closer.

"I have been thinking," he started when I turned a little in his arms.

"That's never good," I retorted a little worried for what he was going to say next.

"I was going to say I was thinking maybe you should contact your dad somehow to let him know we were fine," he replied as I turned fully in his arms to gage just what he was saying.

"Okay, but how," I finally said as I sat up a little to really understand his reasoning.

"I'm not really sure about that, but I was thinking that maybe with the right disguise we could slip into his office or house without being detected and pop up," he said as I start to laugh. It was a somewhat good idea, but not fully thought out. "Wow, what a way to hurt my feelings," he muttered as he went to get out of the bed.

"Wait, Logan is a good idea. The concept needs work. We can't just show up at his house. We could maybe get into the office, but it's hard to know if it's being watched or even bugged," I say as he sits back down on the bed.

"I hadn't thought of that angle," he states looking down at his hands.

"I know this is all new to you, but I really think if there is a way to meet him without things falling through then it will happen," I say smiling as he leans back against the bed post. I pulled out a magazine and began to read it as he flipped through pages on his laptop. We were both emerged in what we were doing when there was a knock on our door.

"Who could that be at this hour?" he muttered as I looked at the clock to see it was close to midnight. I pulled on my robe as I followed him out into the living room not wanting to be left in the bedroom alone. "Can I help you?" he muttered as I watched him open the door slightly only to see Mac on the other side.

"Yes, open the door. It's freaking cold out here," she muttered pushing on the door a little.

"What are you doing here?" I questioned as I wrapped my arms around her.

"Weevil thought I might be able to help you two," she states as she opens up a bag filled with odd gadgets. "I had to slip into your dad's office and out without him seeing me," she continued as I watched her set up a few items.

"I knew we couldn't trust him," Logan muttered behind us.

"He only told me. Wallace and your dad don't know anything about you two being here. I know from your dad that the Fitzpatrick's have people watching Wallace and him, but I can slip in and out of places undetected," she countered as Logan sat slowly down next to me.

"Well at least that is good," he finally relents. "Yet, it doesn't explain why you're here at this ungodly hour," he continues as she laughs.

"I was doing a little surveillance near here for a client and decided to drop by," she says smiling as I watch her finish up setting up a whole new computer on our kitchen counter.

"Okay, but why come now and not during the day," I asked as she began typing in different things.

"Oh, I wasn't sure what you two did all day. I knew you'd be home now, but wasn't sure about how you spent your time when you could be out or I don't know," she rambled as she moved a box like counter near the hard drive of the computer.

"Do you hang out with Wallace?" I asked as she lifted her head up from plugging in the box to the hard drive.

"I hang out with Wallace, Meg Manning, and even Dick," she said softly the last name.

"Dick as in Richard Casablancas," I retorted as I watched the blush creep onto her cheeks.

"Yes," she muttered as she wrote down a few things on a slip of paper. "This is a new email address. Only use it and IM when you want to talk with your dad or any of us. This box," she says as she places her hand on the box I had been wondering about, "it is a web address or IP address scrambler. I got it from Kane industries. I have set it up where only I can unlock it, but wouldn't do it," she replies as I felt Logan place his hand on my shoulder.

"Why Dick?" I questioned as she looked back up from the paper.

"He's been really good to me. I wasn't so sure about him to begin with, but since everything has happened he has stepped up. I think he misses Logan, but then again you both are missed by a lot of people," she replied as I watched her texting to someone.

"How is my dad really doing?" I asked as she closed out her phone screen.

"He's struggling, but he is doing well. I think having Alicia and her boys is helping him. He proposed to Alicia, but refuses to marry her until you come home. He's happy, but sad at the same time," she said as I hear her phone vibrate. "I have to take this," she replied as she answered her phone.

"Hey, I'm sort of busy right now," she said to the person on the line. I looked over to Logan who just shrugged his shoulders. "What the heck was he thinking?" she half snapped as I watched her pull up a web search page on the computer. She typed in something I couldn't read fully and several pictures came up.

"What's going on?" I whispered as she turned to look at us.

"Dick, I'll have to call you back. No, leave Wallace out of this. I don't think his mom would like him to be caught up in this issue," she replied as I watched her scribble down something before turning her attention back to the computer screen. I faintly saw Liam Fitzpatrick on the screen with something unreadable below.

"Mac," Logan snapped as she turned back around before hanging up the phone.

"It's nothing you two. Dick found the boys who are selling drugs for Liam and let Weevil know the other day. Well it seems Weevil has decided to go up against Liam and his guys. Liam has snapped and pulled one of his men out," she replies scrolling down to show a PCHer who was injured by a car accident involving Liam Fitzpatrick and him.

"Dick thought Wallace and he could look into it since the Sherriff's office is ruling it an accident. I don't think Mrs. Fennel would like Wallace involved so I'll look into it later," she replied as she got up and looked into her bag before looking up again. "I have checked your dad's office and so has Weidman for bugs, but I can't guarantee it's safe. Your best bet would be to video chat him," she says attaching a webcam to the computer screen.

"Thank you Mac," Logan said as he got up. I stood up as well and gave her a small hug.

"I know this isn't the best way to meet, but I am glad to see you. I wish it were under better terms," I say as she laughs.

"I'm just glad you have each other. In the beginning when people thought you had left alone it was a mess, but as everyone realized you were together it seemed to settle down. Oh, congradualtions," she replied handing us a small box.

"What?" Logan questioned as I held up the box.

"Weevil told me about your baby. I know it wasn't his business, but he wanted to prepare me in case I spook you guys," she replied smiling.

"Thank you," I said as I opened the box to find a small baby blanket. It was something I would have picked out if I had gone to buy it.

"I know it's not much, but I was looking at baby things earlier with Meg and when I saw that I had to pick it up," she replied as I opened my mouth in surprise.

"Meg Manning," Logan asked as I thought about what that meant.

"Oh, right. Meg is pregnant as well. Your dad has been watching over her with Mrs. Fennel. It's a long story, but when I have time I'll tell you the whole thing," she muttered looking at her watch.

"Who's the father?" I questioned as I looked from her to Logan who just looked up at the ceiling as I held the little blanket with magnifying glasses on it.

"Duncan," I heard Logan say as I looked back to Mac who just nodded her head. She told us a little about what she knew, but it wasn't much. It seemed Meg and Duncan weren't together either and Meg's family was very abusive hence why my dad was involved. Mac left promising to try to sneak back another time. Logan and I went to bed shortly after. Right now I needed sleep the rest of the world could wait until after I woke up for me to tackle it.


	13. Chapter 13

Fighting for LoVe

Chapter 13: Grave Dangers

 **Mac**

I hated to leave Veronica and Logan after spending time with them, but I needed to get back to the real world. It was hard to believe what Weevil had told me about the two of them since the last time I had seen them together they were at each other's throats. It was hard though to let them know things that would or could hinder them now. I just knew though that if I was in their situation I would want to know what was going on as well. I couldn't believe the look on Veronica's face when she found out I had been seeing Dick. I knew there was no blood loss there, but she was my friend and I didn't want her to dislike the guy I had been seeing.

"Did you do it?" Weevil asked as I moved toward the entrance to the school.

"I set them up yesterday, or I should say this morning," I replied looking up to see Wallace moving toward us.

"Good, do they know what they plan on doing from here on out?" he questioned as I shook my head just as Wallace approached us.

"Weevil, haven't seen you in a while," he replied as I felt a hand wrap around my waist.

"Dick," the other two guys said as he chuckled at them leaning down to kiss my forehead.

"I missed you last night," he said as I looked up at him.

"I was doing a little recon, and then had some work to catch up on," I replied looking from him to Weevil.

***LoVe***

 **Logan**

The visit from Mac had relaxed Veronica a lot. Even though we have been doing better communicating, she still needs reassurances of things every now and then. I knew going into this; family was important to her. For Veronica her dad Keith Mars was the backbone of her life, he had been there in thick and thin for her. He went through a fire just to save her, especially when it was my own father's fault. I hated him more and more as I think back to the things he did. I couldn't imagine someone wanting to hurt another person because all I could think about was protecting those I held dear. I would do whatever it took to protect Veronica and our child even if it meant losing my life.

"Hey," Veronica whispers pulling me from my thoughts. I look up to see her sitting down beside of me on the rock I had chosen to watch the waves. "I woke up and you two were gone. I figured you might have ventured this way," she says as she nudges me lightly making me smile down at her. I couldn't believe how lucky I was to wake up to this beautiful creature; it was a blessing to even be able to call her my own.

"Yeah, Rosie woke up and wanted out. I went for my morning run with her and we ended up here. I guess I lost track of time," I say as she nods her head slightly looking up at me to see if she could see anything else. "How are you doing this morning?" I questioned trying to turn her attention back onto her.

"Better, honestly I have been feeling much better with everything. I think what we have right now is what I needed. I just needed someone who understood my pain. Logan you know what it is like to endure hell and move on from it. You had to endure hell everyday with Aaron, and then you were alone after Lilly was murdered. We might not have had the same trouble, though we did have our own hardships. I think this all came about to give us both a second chance," she says as I look around at the small group of kids playing on the beach.

"What? Veronica why are you thinking about all of this," I questioned before I could change my mind.

"I believe that even though we lost Lilly, and literally hiding out. This is what we needed. We needed a second chance to see each other the way we once did. No matter what happened with us in our group I could always count on you if I needed someone to hold me or help me out. Logan you are my hope; hope that there is better in this world," she replies looking up at me with tears in her eyes.

"I don't know what to say, I agree there is always hope. I had hoped that you would be there for me so many times, but I couldn't find it in my heart to reach out. Then when things got bad with my mom you were right there helping me look for her. I had hoped that I might be able to fix the mess I had started," I admitted as she wrapped her arms around me.

"This is all I need right now. I do miss everyone, but you and I both need each other and I would rather be here with you than alone. I thought alone was the only way I would be protected, but I see that I was wrong," she replied laying her head on my shoulder as she looked up at me.

"Yes, I thought that as well," I admitted as we held each other watching as the puppy ran in and out of the waves chasing the seagulls.

***LoVe***

 **Veronica**

It's been a week since Logan and I came clean about our feelings. It felt good, but a little overwhelming to say everything I did, but I was glad I could finally let him know just what I felt. I had grown accustomed to people letting me down since my mother was the first person who did so. In a way I felt Lilly had let me down as well because she was taken from us way too soon.

"Come on," I muttered as I pulled on Logan's arm to get him up. I wanted to go out, but knew he would worry if I left without him.

"Nah," he muttered rolling over and covering his head up with his arm.

"Lo, come on. Rosie and I want to go to the beach this morning while it's still cool. It's going to heat up," I snapped a little irritated that he wasn't moving.

"Vee, it's too early," he muttered turning over slightly to look at me with half closed eyes.

"Please," I said as nicely batting my eyes as he groaned. I couldn't believe this was the same boy who several months ago would have jumped at the chance to surf in the wee morning hours, but he didn't want to get up to walk the beach.

"If we go out now, will you let me nap this afternoon," he replied sitting up leaning over on his elbows.

"Fine, although we do need to look for baby things," I reasoned as he moaned flopping back on the bed. I had to laugh as he moved to the side of the bed, and got out of it before heading into the bathroom. When he came out he was dressed in shorts and a t-shirt. I had to smile because he looked so relaxed.

"Well, where would the milady like to go," he said smugly as he pulled on a sweat jacket and zipped it up as I pull on my shoes.

"Can we just go for a walk on the beach and maybe hit the boardwalk for food?" I asked as he attached the leash to Rosie's collar. We walked along the edge of the waves for a little while until he led me to some rocks were I took off my shoes. He held my hand as we walked in the water while Rosie splashed about excitedly.

"I'll miss these little moments," he finally says softly as I watch him bend down and unleash Rosie so she could run in and out of the waves.

"We'll still have this. Nothing is going to change between the two of us," I replied as I held my hand out for him.

"Yes, things are going to change. We are going to be parents. My dad is hopefully going to see the courtroom one day to answer for all he has done," he states as I look at him carefully to assess the situation.

"Lo," I start but he holds his hand up to stop me.

"Come along," he says whistling for Rosie to follow as we make our way toward a small little bakery off of the beach. He puts the leash back on Rosie, and then hands me the leash before entering the bakery. I sit at one of the tables that looked out on the ocean. After a few minutes he comes out of the bakery with food and drinks. I could smell the heavenly scent of blueberries in the muffin he got.

"Thanks for this," I said as I stuck the last piece of muffin in my mouth.

"You're very welcome," he replied as he picked up all the trash and took it to the bin. It still amazed me at times how comfortable and easy our relationship was. As he was heading back toward me I could see a airplane flying low in the air so I followed the direction to see Wallace. The last time I watched him flying it was when Logan busted in my headlights. I scanned the area to see not only Dick, but Mac with Meg sitting out on blankets while Wallace flew his plane.

"We should head back," I finally said quietly as he turned to see what had me distracted.

"Okay, here," he said as he handed me the extra sweatshirt. I slipped it on, and handed him the leash. He would be able to handle Rosie a lot more than I could if she got excited. We both hurried past our friends toward the docks only to see two of Liam's men watching our friends on the beach. Logan turned me toward where the CRV was parked. He quickly picked Rosie up to keep her quiet.

"Where will we go?" I asked as tears formed in my eyes.

"Vee, it's going to be alright. We will find somewhere safe," he muttered as he turned onto the main street before heading toward the 02 zip code. I couldn't be sure, but I was sure either things were going to change for the better or the worse in the near future. I hoped for the better, but in a corrupt town like Neptune, things didn't always get better.


	14. Chapter 14

Fighting for LoVe

Chapter 14: Surroundings

Logan

I could tell from Veronica's panicked expression when she looked back toward me that something was wrong. I followed her line of direction to see our friends. It took so much will power to keep me from running to them, but I could tell Veronica was dealing with the same turmoil. We headed for the marina when I stopped and pulled her in a different direction when I saw the two thugs who found us in San Francisco. I was thanking my quick thinking as I helped her into the CRV and took off.

"Where will we go?" she questioned as I drove through town toward a section of town I hadn't planned on going.

"Vee, it's going to be alright. We will find somewhere safe," I muttered trying to not only reassure her but myself in the process. I had planned to bring her out to look at property later, but had already bought one I thought would be perfect for us.

"Logan," she whispered as I pulled into the driveway of a simple cottage style bungalow. It was a perfect beginners home right on the beach, but also close enough to everyone that mattered to us.

"The house was bought for me out of a secret account from my mom. I was planning on selling it, but put that on hold when we fled. Once we came back I thought we might need a secondary hideout," I began as I walked around to help her out of the CRV. "Come on," I said as I held her hand and the leash in the other. I put the key into the lock and turned it. The front door opened up to an open floor plan. The kitchen, was to our left as a small half bath was to our right, beyond the kitchen was the living room and dining room which took up the whole back of the house. There were stairs that led to the second floor as you walked in the front door.

"It's beautiful," she murmured looking toward the all window back wall of the house. "God, Logan whose name is this in?" she continued as I laughed.

"My mom put it in my grandfather's name to keep it out of Aaron's hands. Once things had settled I would have brought you here, but seeing the men at the marina I thought this would be safer for now," I replied as she looked back at me. "I want to show you something," I whispered as I bent down and let Rosie off the leash to check out her new surroundings. Veronica held out her hand as I led her up the stairs to the second floor. I had liked this house from the beginning of finding out it was mine because it had three bedrooms, plus a landing. We moved past the landing to the back of the house where the bedrooms were as I pulled her to the door on the right of us. I had finished the painting a day ago.

"Oh my god," she whispered holding her hand over her mouth as I saw a few tears slip down her cheeks. "How did you do this?" she questioned as we walked into out child's nursery. It was painted a soft yellow, with cream accents. I already had the crib, and furniture set up around the room with butterflies hanging over the crib.

"I wanted to give you something to look forward to," I finally commented as I watched her touch different things. She picked up a teddy bear with an 'I LUV U' written on a shirt off the changing table.

"I love it," she began as she kissed me. I then led her to the room opposite of our baby's. She opened the door and gasped as she moved into the room. I had taken the liberty of furnishing it, but had decided to leave the light blue walls with beige accents. I truly wasn't sure how safe being on the boat was, so I began to think about this place. I knew it wasn't both of ours yet, but I hoped Veronica would love it. On the plus side it was something simple that wouldn't draw any attention if a young couple moved in.

***LoVe***

 **Veronica**

I couldn't believe how much effort and thought Logan had put into our family and life. I mean I knew we had talked about how this wasn't just something we were doing till things were settled, but how this was our life now. It made me love him even more knowing just how much he was willing to give me, just for loving him. I was surprised that his mom would get something so simple since they lived in one of the biggest and most expensive house next to the Kanes.

"Hey," he said as I laid down on the bed in our room. He was lying next to me rubbing small circles on my stomach.

"I'm just so surprised by all of this," I said honestly as he moved to face me. He brushed a few loose strands of my hair out of my face as he softly kissed me.

"I know. I wasn't planning on showing you the house until it was fully set up, but you looked so shaken by our friends and then the thugs that I thought this would be a safe haven for a little while," he said as I moved to lean up against the pillows.

"We still have to get some things from the boat," I finally said as I moved to get up. I needed to get up and use the bathroom. I smiled when I entered the bathroom and found all of my favorite things. He truly was one of a kind. Logan was the only person who would think this far ahead, and make sure things were safe.

"I know that, but I think for tonight we should be fine here. I have some food already in the freezer and can fix something up for us," he says as I walk out of the bathroom.

"Okay that will work for me," I say as I lay back down and snuggle into him. I was wiped out and just needed to close my eyes for a few minutes.

"Veronica, come on," Logan was saying as I felt the bed dip and wet slobber on my face.

"Logan," I muttered as I opened one eye to see Rosie looking at me curiously moving her head from the left to the right.

"Dinners ready, you missed lunch so come on," he replied as I got up off the bed and he grabbed my hand. I followed him down the stairs to see it was dark again. I thought I had just closed my eyes, but I must have slept half the day away. I was surprised when I saw more furniture in the house than when we got there.

"Where did all this come from?" I questioned as he led me to the dining room table where dinner was set out.

"I had a lot of the furniture stored in the garage, but some of it I had delivered while you were napping," he said as I looked over at him questioning his judgment over that, but let it slid.

"Well it feels more homey now," I smiled letting it go that he did something dangerous.

"Veronica, I made sure to only get a few pieces delivered and then I picked up the rest. I went by the boat and got most of the things we would need immediately as well as anything to do with alias and what not," he says as I take a bit out of my salad.

"How long did I sleep for?" I questioned softly.

"You napped fro around four hours, but I ordered the furniture online and set a time for them to bring it. I went to the boat first and then had the furniture brought," he says as I give him a nod.

"Were they still at the beach?" I questioned.

"No, I think they might have taken off once they noticed they were being tailed. Mac had texted us letting us know the men were at the beach in case we might venture out," he said as I watched him chew what was in his mouth.

We spent the rest of dinner enjoying talking about names for our baby and what we needed to do. I was surprised he was leaving most of the naming to me. He just wanted me to keep from using Lilly or Aaron; which I never would have done to being with. I might have used Lilly in the middle name, but I would follow whatever he thought was best. He picked up the food and put everything away while I flipped through the channels on the TV trying to find something to watch.

"How are my two ladies doing?" he questioned as he sat down beside of me on the couch.

"We're doing well," I said as I leaned into his side as I let the cares of the world slip away. Right now I was going to focus on the here and now. I would do whatever it took to make sure this life was safe. I needed Logan now more than ever. I knew when we got back to the real world I would have to handle my dad, but in my heart I knew Logan and my relationship was worth it.


	15. Chapter 15

**Fighting for LoVe**

 **Chapter 15: Resolutions**

 **Mac**

I barely saw Veronica and Logan out of the corner of my eye as Dick was chasing after Wallace's plane. I wanted to run over to them, but caught sight of the two thugs that usually follow us. They were standing near the entrance to the marina where Logan and Veronica should have gone. I looked in the direction they were walking and saw them get into a small SUV of some sort.

"Mackie," Dick said as he wrapped his arms around my waist pulling me closer to him.

"Ugh! You Neanderthal got me wet," I joked as he kissed my forehead.

"I was trying to get your attention, but it was like you had spaced out," he earnestly replied as he kissed my check and then my lips.

"I thought I saw someone I knew, but I guess it wasn't them," I replied as he pulled me closer to him. I watched for a little while as Wallace continued to fly his plane. It was not my sort of thing, but I was trying to think and this was perfect to just zone out. I was bothered with so many things, but mainly the incident on the bridge. Weevil had cleared Logan of the murder, but since the evidence Veronica left disappeared it was becoming harder to find things out.

"You guys want to get something to eat," Wallace asked as he came over to where we were seated.

"Sure," I replied as I listened to Dick talk about this cool new place that was opening up. I probably couldn't get anything, but would watch or just drink something.

"I made sure that they offered vegan items," Dick said softly as I was started to get out of his truck.

"What?" I questioned not really hearing his comment.

"I said I made sure they offered vegan," he restated smiling as I leaned into him as we walked into the restaurant. Wallace had already got a booth for us and was staring at the menu when we entered.

"Did you even stop for a light?" Dick questioned as Wallace chuckled.

"Yea, but I just got lucky," he replied as the waitress came and took our order. I decided to just stick with a tofu salad and water with lemon. The guys both ordered some ridiculous hamburger with fries combo and shakes. The conversation was light as our food came and we began to eat. I smiled a few times at how easy it seemed that I could talk freely with them. If it hadn't been for Veronica I wouldn't have became friends with either of them.

"How are we going to get information to clear Logan and Veronica if everything keeps disappearing?" Dick finally asked as he took a piece of tofu off my plate. I watched him eat it making a face as he swallowed it.

"Was it good?" I teased as he looked at me.

"It wasn't as bad as I thought it would be, but I wouldn't eat it every day," he said smiling as he took another piece and ate it.

"If I could hack into a computer in the sheriff's office I might be able to see what they did have," I whispered as Wallace sat up in his seat and looked around the restaurant.

"Can you do that sort of thing?" he questioned as I just shrugged my shoulders.

"We might need to check in with Papa Mars first," Dick said sounding like the reasonable on out of us.

"Now, you want to talk to him. We have been looking into things since we found out they were together. We need to do this," Wallace half snapped as I went to say something as Dick did.

"I know, but I draw the line at us doing this illegal stuff without his okay. I will not let him take the fall for what we are doing, Veronica would kill us all if we did that," he half muttered as I saw a new side of him. He was right about that though, if we did something and her dad took the fall she'd bury all of us.

"Dick's right. We need to get Mr. Mars in on things. We could use his expertise on a few things anyway," I finally say looking over at Wallace who looked like he was thinking about everything.

"Alright, but we tell him only what he needs to know. I don't think he'd like some of the things we have done so far," he relents as I nod my head in agreement.

***LoVe***

 **Logan**

"Come on girl," I half muttered trying to coax the restless puppy back into the house, but she had other plans. I woke up to her liking my face and decided instead of her waking Veronica up with her barking to bring her out to run a little while. The little while has been an hour now. "Ugh!" I muttered loudly as I flop back into one of the chaises on the patio that might have been left from the previous owners.

"Is she not wanting to listen to you?" I hear a voice behind me ask. I turn to see Veronica wrapped up in a warm blanket walking toward me.

"No, she seems just as relentless as her mom," I tease as she sits down beside of me on the chaise. I can feel the warmth radiating off of her. "Mmm, you smell good," I whisper into her ear as she lays her head on my chest.

"I smell like baby powder," she laughed as I pulled her closer.

"I like it. It has a floral scent that is easy on the nose," I tease as she just nudges me. I go to turn to face her more to hear grunting from my side. I look down to see that Rosie has finally joined us. I guess she really was like Veronica in many ways. "Come on lets head back into the house," I say as I pick up the squirming puppy before she has a chance to take off. Veronica takes my hand as I hold it out for her. We head back into the warmth of the house hand in hand.

"Do you think this will ever be normal?" she asks as I get into the bed next to her.

"I hope so because I want to wake up next to you for the rest of my life," I say kissing her on the forehead as she leans over and put her head on my chest.

"A girl could get use to this," she said as I wrapped an arm around her. Yes, I could get use to this as well. When I wake up next the bed is empty and I hear music floating up from the downstairs.

"Well, I thought you might sleep all day," came a voice that wasn't Veronica's. I look over to the island in the kitchen to find Keith Mars standing in my kitchen flipping pancakes while Veronica sits on a stool across from him.


	16. Chapter 16

**Fighting for LoVe**

 **Chapter 16: Fatherly LoVe**

 **Keith**

It was shear dumb luck that got me to the house where my wayward daughter and her boyfriend were staying at. I was still trying to come to grips with the conversation the kids laid out to me. I knew Veronica had very reliable friends, but I wasn't counting on them actually being detectives like her. I found it amusing to watch them squirm as they told me the things they had been up to since Veronica had disappeared.

It took courage for them to even come to me, but it was stupidity that they might be right in some areas with getting the information needed to clear my daughter. It was good though the idea of taping into the police station footage. I thought about it for the longest time, but they were right. At this point I was willing to do anything to try to find the kids. I left them at the office to do their thing and decided to take a drive.

I was stopped at a light when I saw Logan in a car beside me. I had to look the other way when he looked in my direction. It only took me a moment to decide to follow him. I was in luck when he turned into the shopping center and headed into the furniture store. I waited until he had left to go into the store.

"Can I help you?" the man behind the counter asked as I took a peek around the store.

"I just came in to see about what the man before me bought," I said as I walked closer.

"Keith Mars," the man said as I he pulled a slip out of a drawer.

"Yea," I said as he passed the slip to me. I looked it over to see the address and thanked him. I headed back to the office to check on the kids. I could see my tail behind me as I parked in front of my office building.

"Mr. Mars," Dick said as I opened the door to the office.

"Kids," I replied as Wallace looked up from the screen that Mac was looking at.

"We found most of the evidence," he said looking through a few sheets of paper until Mac looked up.

"It seems that Sheriff Lamb would enter the evidence and then it would disappear," Mac replied as she looked at a sheet of paper before looking back at the laptop.

"What does all of that mean?" I asked as she looked back at me.

"It means he wasn't hiding anything, but someone in the department is," she replied crinkling her nose up as I looked at a few of the pages they printed out. Most of them were of the actual items that were processed and then placed into the evidence room. I just couldn't see how things could just easily be swiped out from Lamb. He was usually on the ball with this sort of thing, but nothing was right with this whole situation.

I was able to swap cars with Dick and even left the office in as disguise. I headed to the address that I got from furniture store. I parked the car two blocks over and walked up to the house from the beach area. I saw Logan out in the back yard and then Veronica had joined him. It was refreshing to see Veronica so relaxed. I couldn't remember the last time she looked so carefree.

"Dad," I heard my little girl say some time later.

"Veronica," I gasped out looking at my little girl for the first time in months. "Where have you been?" I questioned once I found my voice again. She went into detail of everything that they had been through. I was a little upset that Logan and her were all alone for so long, but that did little to her news.

"Dad, can you say something," she asked as I tried hard not to be so upset.

"Oh sweetie how could you two let this happen," I asked as I wrapped my arms around her.

"It was an accident," she cried as I held onto her tighter and tighter.

"I'm sorry you have had to do all this on your own," I muttered as I watched her wrap the blanket tighter around her body.

"I haven't been alone. Logan has been here all the way. Dad, he followed me after I left him. He didn't have to, but he did," she replied as I tried to wrap my mind around all of the things she had told me.

"It's cold out here, let's go inside," I said as she led me into the house. She sat down on the stool at the island while I looked in the cabinets to see what they had to eat. I found some pancake mix and began to make some. "Well, I thought you might sleep all day," I said as Veronica was finishing up her second plate of pancakes.

"Mr. Mars," Logan said startled as I motioned for him to sit down.

***LoVe***

 **Veronica**

"Come sit down Logan," I said as I motioned for the empty sit beside of me.

"I'm sorry, I still don't understand," Logan said as he sat down beside of me.

"Dad saw you at the furniture store," I finally said as my dad put pancakes down in front of him.

"I thought I was being so careful," he muttered as I chuckled.

"Don't worry Logan you two have been doing pretty good at keeping yourselves under the radar. I had to do some quick thinking in order to get here," my dad said as I took a bite of food from his plate.

"Do you want more?" Logan joked as I swiped another bite from his plate. I gave him a smile.

"No, but thank you," I said laughing as he leaned over just enough to nudge me. It was funny to still see the small flicker of fear in Logan's eyes as my father moved to stand closer to us.

"Logan, what are your intentions with my little girl?" my dad questioned as Logan turned to me before moving to the trash can and gagging into it. I wanted to laugh, but I even knew better than to do that.

"Well, I love her," he muttered as he wiped his face with a cool cloth. "I wish we had been able to do all this differently, but it is what it is. I can't live without her. I would willingly live anywhere she wanted to be just to be with her," he said as I reached for him. He moved back around the island and I leaned into his embrace.

"I would say I wish things didn't happen like this as well, but it did. I don't like her being pregnant, but better it's you and not Duncan Kane," my dad muttered rubbing at his already bald head.

"How is Meg?" I questioned. I could see my dad's eyes light up.

"Meg is doing wonderful. I have her staying with me, but she stays a lot with Alicia when I need to work," he said as I couldn't help but smile.

"Well anyone who has Keith Mars fighting for them is in good hands," Logan said as I turned to look up at him with questioning eyes.

"Thanks," my dad said slowly.

"I mean I wish I had listened to Veronica back when everything went on with Lilly and Jake Kane, but I didn't. I'm sorry Keith. I shouldn't have turned on Veronica like I did. I will forever try to be better for her," Logan said as I squeezed his had trying to reassure him of my feelings.

"That's good to hear. Thank you for that," my dad said as he picked up the dishes and began rinsing them off.

"So dad, tell us how we are going to get the Fitzgerald's to pay so that we can come home," I asked as I felt Logan squeezing my shoulder.


	17. Chapter 17

**Fighting for LoVe**

 **Chapter 17: Game Plan**

 **Veronica**

"I want the two of you to stay put until I give you the heads up to move. I know you have to see the doctor and all, but keep to the house as much as possible," my dad said as he did a quick sweep of the house before making his way to the back door.

"I'll keep her here as long as I can," Logan said as I hit his shoulder lightly causing my dad to chuckle.

"Right, try to limit your contact to the outside world. I left several burners in the drawer near the garage. If they do find you grab them and get the hell out of dodge. Don't try to take them down!" my dad said as he looked directly at me.

"What, pregnant!" I exclaimed as he groaned.

"Logan," he muttered as Logan moved to the open door as my dad whispered to him and then pointed back at me.

"I will sir," Logan said as he moved back toward me while my dad took off. I knew he had to leave, but it still hurt to see him go. I was glad though that he spent the day with us. He needed to leave in the dark anyway to keep us safe.

"What did my dad say?" I questioned as Logan wrapped his arms around me.

"He told me if I let anything happen to you or his grandchild he would castrate me so that I could never reproduce again," he muttered as we both shuddered. I could see my dad doing that to Logan if things did go bad with me, but of course I would do everything I could to prevent it from happening.

"I don't think he would," I started as Logan shook his head.

"No, I believe he would and if he couldn't he would find someone else to do it. We are not taking any chances at all. It would kill me to lose either of you," he admitted as I pulled him as close as I could; digging my nails into his back as I buried my face into his chest. I knew just how he felt it would kill me if I lost him as well.

"Logan, do you think things will ever be normal for us," I questioned as he moved a little to get comfortable on the couch as I snuggled more into him.

"I don't know. I would hope that after all this is over we could try going out on a date," he said as I nudged him in the stomach with my elbow.

"We've gone out on dates, silly," I replied as he laughed.

"Yes, we have, but it would be nice to do so without having to look over our shoulders for deranged murders trying to kill us," he mumbled as I nodded my head affirming that thought.

We spent the rest of our evening bingeing on reality TV. It was nearing midnight when I decided I wanted to go to bed. As I turned to look at Logan I noticed just how young he looked in his sleep. We were both barely old enough to make our own decisions and we had to grow up so fast. I'll admit it was good to really see my dad, but things were weighing on me about how much it would destroy me to lose anyone I cared for.

If Wallace could only hear me now; he always said I might act tough on the outside, but on the inside I was a marshmallow. I would hate to confirm his suspicions because what my dad wanted to do was tricky, but it could also cause more damage. My dad's plan would have to involve a lot of people and it worried me as to whom they were.

"Hey," Logan whispered pulling me from my thoughts. "You okay," he questioned as I turned off the TV.

"Yeah, just thinking," I muttered as I rubbed my foot against the other as the tingling of it falling asleep made them tingle.

"Veronica, I trust your dad. I know his plan might seem tricky or over the top, but if it works and we can go home. Don't you think it's worth the try?" he questioned.

"I do, but I don't want anyone I care for to get hurt in the process. I mean it will involve Mac, Wallace, Weevil and who knows who else," I replied as I went to stand up and had to stand in place for a minute as my feet woke up.

"I know that, but if anyone can pull something like this off it's your dad," he started as I moved to walk away. "I'm serious. I might have doubted him during the investigation of Lilly's murder, but you have to know this is all about you. Your dad will not take any chances that could end with you getting hurt. He loves you too much to risk you," Logan tersely said as I felt bad for him. He never really had someone who loved him as much as my dad loved me.

"Logan, I love you. I don't think I would have done all this if it hadn't been for you. You kept me sane, safe, happy and just showed me how important I was," I said trying to convey he was just as loved as I was.

"Sugarpuss you flatter me," he jested as I laughed.

"Okay, I think you've watched way too many sappy love stories," I joked as he reached for my hand. "Let's go to bed," I said before anymore silly things could be said.

As Logan took his shower I pulled out the baby book I had gotten the last time we went shopping to look over suggestions for sore feet. It hadn't occurred a lot yet, but my feet were becoming sore if I stood too long, or laid on them for long periods of time. I was just closing the book as Logan took it from me placing it back on the nightstand.

"Enough tough decisions for one night," he suggested as I leaned over to turn off my light. I felt him wrap his arms around me as I snuggled into his side leaning my head on his shoulder. This seemed to be the way we fell asleep lately.

***LoVe***

 **Mac**

I could tell right away that Papa Mars had found Veronica. He didn't seem as sad when he came into the office. I didn't want to blurt anything out so I decided that he would tell us when he felt the time was right, but it felt good knowing he had hope.

"Okay, kids we will be doing things differently for a wile as I try to gather some evidence I need for a new case. I think while I do this you all should scatter about and not always be here," Keith said as he made his way toward his office.

"We could help," Wallace blurted out as I watched him move around Veronica's desk.

"I know you all could, but I think right now I need to do this. You can all work on your separate cases for your friends, but anything I would classify as serious needs to be left to me," he replied as Sherriff Lamb came into the office with the Mayor.

"Kids," the mayor said as he walked past us.

"You guys can go for now. Mac could you check in with Meg, Wallace and Dick you could help, but no funny stuff," Keith said pointing his finger at the boys as he closed the door to his office.

"What do you think that was all that about," Dick asked as I was gathering up my laptop and books.

"I bet it is something secret cool and he doesn't want us here to get in the way," Wallace mumbled as I shook my head. They were both so obvious to what had happened.

"You two really don't see things," I said as I walked out of the office door locking it behind as the guys exited.

"What do you mean?" Dick questioned as I sat down beside of Meg on the sofa at Keith's apartment.

"I mean Keith," I replied as Wallace brought over some cups for us to use.

"He did seem different this morning," Meg said as she picked up a slice of pizza.

"Different how," Wallace queried as he opened his bag pulling out his binder.

"I don't know, he seemed happy," she said as I smiled. "Oh my, do you think," she continued as the boys just looked more confused as ever.

"Seriously, Keith must have found Veronica," I said as I laughed when Wallace just about dropped his cup of soda.

"Why didn't he tell us?" he questioned as I felt Dick rub my back with his hand.

"Maybe that was what his meeting was about with Lamb and the Mayor," Dick chimed in.

"Hey," I said as I answered my phone.

"They're gone," Weevil replied tersely as I moved a little to stop Dick from rubbing my back.

"Okay, are you sure," I asked as he went into detail of heading to the boat to check in with them. Instead he found two thugs snooping around and the harbor master going from boat to boat looking through them.

"Is there anywhere else they might go?" he questioned as I tried to think.

"No, your boys burned down his home. I don't think they would be foolish enough to do that, but I don't know. Did you try calling them?" I countered as I pulled out the burner that Veronica had made sure I took.

"Yea, it says it's out of service. I gotta go girl, but if you hear anything let me know," he replied as he hung up.

"Who was that?" Wallace asked as I began typing a text to Veronica and Logan. – _Weevil found your place empty, are you alright? Don't head there thugs and harbor master checking boats out-_

"It was Weevil. He was letting me know that thugs have found some things on Veronica and Logan," I said as Keith walked in the door. He didn't look happy at all.


	18. Chapter 18

**Fighting for LoVe**

 **Chapter 18: Close Encounter**

 **Keith**

I knew the kids didn't like being kept in the dark, but I didn't either. Mac told me that Weevil and her had met up with Logan and Veronica at the boat, but didn't go into detail of what their conversation was about. She did say that she had set them up with an untraceable router to use, but that was the extent of it.

"What exactly did Weevil say about Veronica and Logan?" I questioned as I closed the apartment door.

"He said that Liam's men were sniffing around the marina where they had a boat docked," Mac said as I just nodded my head. I knew about the boat, but thought it was still safe.

"Did he say anything else?" I questioned as Mac seemed to be looking intently at her phone.

"No, I just texted them, but haven't heard back yet," she said as I pulled out one of the burner's I had kept to use with them. I didn't have any new messages.

"They should be alright. I last saw them at Logan's beach house," I shared as I pulled some papers out of my bag and passed them to Mac.

"Thank God, I was worried," she muttered looking over the specs of the house I had pulled up.

"How did you even find them?" Wallace countered as I noticed Meg was just listening to our conversation.

"It was an accident really. I was stopped at a light and saw Logan and followed him. I waited until dark and broke into the house startling Veronica, but had a really good conversation with both of them. I left early this morning," I replied as Mac gave me a knowing look.

"Is Veronica okay," Meg finally asked as everyone looked toward her. "I mean she is your daughter and will be coming home then," she muttered as I realized how she thought I might put her out now.

"Meg," I replied as I moved toward her sitting next to her on the sofa. "Just because I know where Logan and Veronica are, doesn't change things for you or me. Veronica will be living with Logan no doubt even when they no longer have to hide. They are expecting," I said as recognition flashes on her face.

"Really," she said smiling as I groaned.

"Yeah, not that I am happy about it, but yeah," I said smiling back.

"May god, two head tilting blondes, well let's hope it's a boy," Dick jokes as I find it hard not to chuckle.

"No dice, it's a girl," I chastise as he just shakes his head.

"Not cool, man," he grumbles as Wallace pulls the paper I had handed to Mac from her hands.

"Well if we know where they are why aren't we storming the place down to get to them," he mutters as I just laugh. All of this would be easier if we could just get them out and bring them home, but there was still a lot of work to do.

"They need to stay off the radar for a little while longer, but I know my daughter and I give her two maybe three days tops before she becomes bored," I replied as Mac gave me a knowing look.

"How are we going to help Veronica from getting bored?" Wallace questioned as I just smiled.

"Simple, I am going to get Mac to sneak another blonde in to keep Veronica busy while I work hard at getting Logan and her cleared," I said as I could tell the boys had no clue what I was talking about. It was odd to know they were oblivious to so many things.

"How will we do that?" Mac asked as I laid out my plan. I was going to give Veronica the benefit of the doubt and wait two days before stepping in; or rather Mac and Meg will be stepping in.

"What about school?" Meg questioned after I explained my plan.

"I've spoken with Mr. Clemons and he seems the best way to protect your right now from your dad is to keep you out of sight. It just works out perfectly that I can use that to keep Veronica from going rogue," I explained as Meg just nodded her head.

"I guess it would be better to get away for a little while," she admitted as I could tell she was torn.

"I'm not doing this to get you out of my hair or anything. I had a serious discussion with Lamb and the Mayor who both agreed your dad is going to keep coming after you. Lamb knows I know Veronica is innocent and he suggested that you might be better off with them," I countered as she looked up.

"Okay," she finally said as I left the kids to do their homework I decided to text my wayward daughter. – _STAY PUT! Liam knows about the boat. Try to stay out of trouble_ —

***LoVe***

 **Logan**

"I am going stir crazy in this house?' Veronica snapped two days after Keith asked us and then told us to stay put.

"I am too, but your dad asked us to stay in," I replied as I flipped the channel. I was getting bored with watching the same things over and over. I agreed with Veronica there was only so many things we could do inside.

"Logan, I'm sure if we do a quick run to Amy's or even up to San Diego no one will notice us," she whined as I had to laugh at her.

"It's only been two days. We can tough it out for a little longer," I said as she nudged me hard in the side.

"It's easy for you to say that, but you don't have a person making you feel uncomfortable and fat," she muttered as I realized this wasn't so much about staying in as it was about our situation.

"Vee, you look perfect to me," I replied trying to keep myself from getting into any trouble with her.

"No," she sniffled as I turned the TV off and quickly pulled my phone out. – _She's bored; need distraction_ — short and simple as I sent it to Keith.

"Hey, why don't we hang out on the patio with Rosie," I asked as the puppy came over to us hearing her name.

"We have done that already. I just too do something normal," she muttered as I felt my phone vibrate. – _Meet Mac at Cho's_ \- was all her dad sent.

"How about we head to Cho's?" I questioned as she pulled my hand up to see my phone.

"Did you seriously ask my dad to go out?" she questioned as she raised an eyebrow at me.

"Yes," I replied as I stood up helping her to her feet. We both headed upstairs and changed into something a little more comfortable for a pizza place. I hated that she had to color her hair because I loved her blonde, but the dark brown was working for her as well. She pulled up half of her hair in a ponytail and then put green contacts in before putting on some fake glasses. I had it easy as I just brushed my hair and pulled on a pair of shades with a baseball hat.

"Ready," she excitedly asked as I exited the bathroom. I looked at her in her sundress with her now visible bump and just felt so thankful for her. We settled Rosie in the spare bedroom with one of her training mats. I was surprised to see a note on the CRV with a key attached to it. – _Use the SUV on the street_ \- We headed out of the garage to find a black Toyota waiting for us.

"You ready," I asked as I unlocked the door and we got in.

"Yes, I need to do something," she replied. I drove through the back roads to Cho's. I pulled into the parking lot and turned off the SUV. I walked around the SUV and opened the door for her. "I don't think I have eaten here before," she said smiling as I interlaced our fingers.

"I don't think I have either," I said as I opened the door and we walked in.

"You all can sit anywhere," a teen called out as he helped a customer at the counter. I was looking for a table that would give us an easy way out when I noticed Mac wave at me.

"I think we have a distraction," I said as I pulled Veronica closer as she turned to look where I was staring.

"Mac," Veronica said smiling as she released my hand and walked toward the table. "Hey," she continued as I moved in closer to the girls just as someone bumped me.

"Sorry," someone said behind me as they seemed to be squeezing in beside me. "I've got a blander the size of a pea," they remarked as they sat down.

"Meg," I replied as I noticed who had been talking.

"Yup," she replied smiling as Veronica sat down on one of the stools as I sat on the other.

"Wallace is loading Meg's things into the SUV as we talk. He wished to see you, but your dad said it would be too dangerous. If it weren't for the beat about how long it would take you to go stir crazy we wouldn't be here," Mac joked as I wanted to tell her she didn't know the half of it.

"It's good to see you no matter the reason," Veronica finally replied as our pizza was delivered.

"Keith thinks it's best if Meg goes into hiding with you two. He spoke in detail with a few people who said it would be better for her not to be out and about either," Mac said as she took a bite of her salad.

"I guess that's fine," I replied as Meg laughed.

"It's funny you thought you had a say," she remarked as Veronica laughed as well. We were enjoying each other's company when Mac's phone buzzed and then she looked up.

"Damn it, stay put," she muttered as Meg looked in the direction of the front of the shop. I grabbed Veronica's hand out of instinct.

"Come on you guys," a voice said from behind us as I turned to see the teen from earlier. I couldn't see the front of the shop due to the increase of people, but realized too late that it was a distraction. "Follow me, we have about 5 minutes to get you to your SUV and out before the men get back here," the teen said as I was pulled along by Veronica, but had just a moment to reach out for Meg.

"Take the back roads back to your house and stay there," another voice replied as I looked up to see Weevil.

"Here," the teen said as he passed us a few boxes of pizza. "Good luck," he said as Weevil handed them to me and I passed them to Meg who got in the back seat with Veronica as I got into the front.

"Echolls keep them safe," Weevil muttered as I pulled out of the parking lot and onto the main street headed in the opposite direction of the house to circle back onto the back roads.

***LoVe***

 **Keith**

"Don, that was too damn close," I muttered as he entered my office.

"I know," he replied as he pulled up surveillance near the pizza shop. "I didn't tell anyone about the meeting and the girls took several precautions. I made sure to even have the SUV picked up once they got back to the house," he said as I looked through the video.

"Then there has to be a missed bug somewhere," I snapped as I looked up from the feed to see him nod his head.

"I will have my car and office checked again. I only use the burner you gave me to contact you and never bring mine with it," he replied as I noticed someone in the parking lot as if he had been staking it out.

"Is this one of your men?" I questioned pointing to the man in the unmarked car.

"Yeah, that's Simmons," he remarked as I watched him enter the shop and watched him exit after stopping to talk with Liam's goons. Yet, when he tries to start his car it won't start as I see Weevil in the outer frame smiling.

"You've got a mole that is too close for my comfort zone. Don this is my daughter, get him or get rid of him. I don't care who you have to call, but get it done," I snapped as he got up and walked out of my office. This crap was getting out of hand fast. I was thankful though that the kids worked together to get them in and out without them being found.


	19. Chapter 19

**Fighting for LoVe**

 **Chapter 19: Moving forward**

 **Meg**

It was hard to believe that Veronica and Logan had been hiding in plain sight this whole time. The house that they were staying in was really gorgeous. I found it calming to just be away from all of the drama that had been my life for the last several weeks.

"We weren't really expecting company, but you can have this room," Logan said as I followed them up the stairs to where Veronica had said the bedrooms were.

"Our room is at the end of the hall and we began to set up the nursery across from us," Logan replied as I felt included somehow to their little family.

"I wasn't aware your dad was going to send me here until the last minute," I said as I opened the bedroom door. I walked in as they followed behind. It was simple with a bed and dresser at the moment.

"I know it doesn't have much, but we can order things and find a way to get them," Logan said as I laughed.

"It's actually perfect," I cheerfully said smiling as I crashed onto the bed. "I was using Veronica's room or sharing with Daryl when I stayed at Wallace's. I have my own little space here," I replied.

"Let's go eat," Veronica finally said as I followed them back down to the living room area. Logan got the pizza from the counter with some plates and napkins before getting drinks. The two of them sat on the sofa as I made myself comfortable in the recliner. I was about to take a bite as a furry little beast jumped up at me.

"Rosie, no," Veronica said as the puppy looked from me to her. "Come here," she continued as the puppy looked as if it were trying to decide whether to go or not. In the end she went to Veronica jumping on the sofa snuggling up into her side as Logan flipped through the channels. It just seemed so normal.

***LoVe***

 **Veronica**

The moment I saw Rosie jumping at Meg I wanted to laugh, but I also knew it wasn't funny as Meg didn't need to have her jumping at her. I pulled my puppy closer to me as I snuggled into Logan's side a little more. Rosie was licking on my leg as I began to eat my pizza once more.

"Don't do that!" Logan said sternly but gently at the same time as he brushed Rosie from my leg.

"Maybe Veronica tastes good," Meg replied as I chuckled a little causing Logan's drink to splash in his cup.

"I think she does," he replied as I groaned while Meg began laughing.

"Oh my gosh," I replied as he wrapped an arm around me.

"Oh, Bobcat. It looks as if we are going to be living together for quite some time. I'm sure Meg has done worse," he said as she snorted but laughed.

"I don't think so. I haven't had some lick me just yet," she replied.

"You mean Donut never licked on you," he questioned as I knew I was beginning to turn red maybe I was even flushed.

"No, he was very gentle and sweet," Meg replied quickly stopping as she looked the other way.

"Meg, we were over for a long time. I think if Duncan can't see how great of a person you are for who you are then it's his lost," I replied as Meg looked toward me.

"I never questioned that," she said softly as I watched her place her half eaten food on the coffee table.

"I didn't say you did. Meg, you were the only person who was nice to me when everyone else had turned on me. If Duncan can't see that, then don't waste your time on him. Think of your little baby," I cautiously replied as she looked thoughtfully at me.

"Veronica, thank you. I learned some time ago who I can look to for support and it surely wasn't Duncan. Mrs. Kane swooped in faster than one would think when he told her. She wanted him to move to Napa and be with them, but he refused. I think he had a thought that you might come back to him. You know he still loves you," Meg said as I got up and moved toward her on the other sofa.

"He can love me all he wants. I love Logan and plan to be with him. This little girl of ours is a blessing and Duncan should have felt the same way for his child. I'm just glad that my dad was able to be there for you when you needed someone," I said giving her a slight nudge as she laughed half hearted.

"He was a blessing," was all she replied as she got up and left us.

"Do you think life will ever be normal with you?" Logan questioned as we cleaned up the living room.

"I don't know. I hope one day we could go out and just hang out on the beach with our daughter without having to stress over being kidnapped and murdered," I jested as he tossed the garbage in the trash.

"I'd even stick by you then," he joked as he wrapped his arms around me. "Meg has been through a lot. I think she will be fine when all this is over," he said seriously.

"I know there's more to her story, but I wish she would tell us. Maybe if we share our stories, it'll help her," I said as he began to lead me up the stairs to our room. I changed out of my dirty clothing into one of Logan's shirts and crawled into bed.

"I always said it would be nice to go to sleep with a hot blonde beside of me," he jested as he got into bed with his boxers on.

"Right," I smirked as he wrapped his arms around me pulling my body closer to his body just as Rosie jumped on the bed and scratched around until she found just the right spot.

***LoVe***

 **Logan**

I was awake most of the night thinking of the things Veronica had told Meg about Duncan. It wasn't how she said them, but the way she said them. It made me feel scared for some reason of how deep my feelings ran for her. I knew Keith saw it when he was here, but would he still let us be together once this was all over with.

"You're up early," Meg said as she entered the kitchen area. She looked like I felt. She must have had a rough night as well.

"I couldn't really sleep. I had a lot of things to think over," I admitted as she sat on one of the barstools.

"Why did you choose Veronica?" she blurted out after a little while.

"I don't know if I chose her or not. I can still remember the first time I saw her. Lilly had taken me to her soccer game. Veronica was only 12 at the time. She had her hair in pigtails and knee socks on. I think I fell in love with her that very moment," I honestly said as I looked to her. Meg had began to blush a little.

"If you thought that why did you date Lilly for so long instead of going with Veronica," she countered. I looked over at her as I flipped a pancake.

"Lilly told me I wasn't good enough for her," I replied as I placed more batter into the pan. "I believed her as well. I found Veronica to be so pure and honest. Why would she date me? I had money and all, but I believed Lilly when she told me that Veronica would be safer with Duncan," I said as I turned. I wiped at a tear and went to turn back when I saw Veronica standing next to me.

"You would have been good enough for me," she replied placing both her hands on either side of my face. "I think we would have been good for each other," she said as she wrapped her arms around my neck burying her head in my shoulder as I felt drops of water falling on it.

"Vee, don't cry," I murmured as I wrap my arms around her hugging her. "I'm thankful we did manage to find our way together," I continued as she sniffled a little and pulled away.

"I am too," she said as she looked like she was contemplating something. She went to the around the counter and sat down beside of Meg. "I had always wondered why Duncan suddenly wanted to be more when I didn't really want to be with him. I had told Lilly I thought I wanted to get to know you more. The next thing I know I'm dating Duncan and you're her boyfriend," she snipped a little peeved.

"Lilly always got what she wanted," Meg said a little bitterly. I looked over to her almost forgetting she was with us.

"Did she snub you?" Veronica asked as I served both of them some of the pancakes.

"No, she didn't. I just got this feeling from her like no one was good enough to be her friend except for you. I watched as she let that girl in and then pushed her away. It terrified me a little at how cruel some people were," Meg said as she picked at her food.

"Yeah, I know all about people being cruel," I said bitterly as I felt eyes turn to look at me.

"You're the son of one of the most famous men in the world," Meg stated as I felt Veronica place her hand on my knee.

"I might be, but it wasn't all roses. My dad beat me for fun every time something went wrong in his life or if I did something to embarrass him," I muttered losing my appetite.

"My dad punished me as well," Meg said as I looked toward her. She was looking down at her food. "He believes that all people sin and a father shouldn't spare the rod. When I was younger he would lock me in a dark part of our closet and make me write lines and lines of scripture or whatever he wanted. I hate leaving my sisters behind, but there was only so much I could do," she replied as I felt Veronica rubbing my leg.

"My dad never hit me or abused me. I don't know about that, but my mom was an alcoholic. I'd come home from school and she'd be passed out on the couch. I later learned that she had also been having an ongoing affair with Jake Kane," Veronica slowly says as she looks up toward the both of us.

"No way," Meg replied staring back.

"If that was just it. No, my mom not only carried on an affair with him, but thought I might be Jake Kane's daughter as well. I dated Duncan for more than a year before I even knew that. My mom allowed me to date the boy that could be my brother without even telling me," Veronica stated.

"That's just wrong. Are you Duncan's sister?" Meg continued as I heard Veronica take in a deep breath.

"No, my dad had a DNA test done. I am not. I told Duncan this the night of the Kane party when Aaron Echolls tried to kill me. He knew I could be his sister and didn't tell me. No, he dumped me because he thought I might be," Veronica muttered taking a drink of her juice.

"That's around when he broke up with me. My god he thought you would go back to him," she murmured as I could see the pieces falling into place as well. "I couldn't understand why he just dumped me because we seemed to be doing fine. I assumed it was because I told him about the baby. I mean that's what he told me after everything began to fall apart," she continued.

"Meg, you deserve so much more than Duncan," I said as I stood up and moved closer to her. "Like Veronica said last night, if he didn't see the person you are, than he didn't deserve you. You can be our family," I spoke brightly as I barely had a chance to brace myself for the hug she gave me.

"Yes, we can be family to one and another. I mean all of us; Mac, Wallace, Weevil, my dad and even Dick," Veronica softly said as I pulled her closer to us. I don't know how long the three of us stood there hugging; it could have been just minutes or an hour it didn't matter until Rosie barked firmly letting us know that she wanted some attention.

The three of us cleaned up the kitchen talking to one another about the different things our families did. Not a one of us had one negative thing to say about Keith Mars because he had stood up for all three of us. I knew that somehow all of problems didn't need matter as much as long as Keith Mars was there to help each one of us. He might not be the person he once was due to Lilly's murder investigation, yet he stood firmly over his beliefs and right now that was what I needed to believe in. He would protect all of us as long as he could, and if anyone could get what was needed to bring us all home it would be him. Yes, Keith Mars was the person who would hold us all together.


	20. Chapter 20

**Fighting for LoVe**

 **Chapter 20: Learning to Grow**

 **Keith**

I was having a hard time letting things go with Liam and his crew knowing he was stalking and preventing my only daughter from coming out of hiding. What I hadn't thought about was just how hard it was going to be to catch the creep doing something wrong. He was good at covering his tracks no matter what he had to do to get a job done. Lamb was doing as much as he could from his end, but it seemed that no matter what break we would get it would end without any hard evidence to back up the problem.

"Sherriff," Weevil called out as he opened my office door.

"Weevil, please tell me you have good news," I replied as I stood up looking at both Weevil and Lamb.

"We've got 'em," Lamb said smirking as he tossed the evidence that we needed. The black and white photos showed Liam and his bother shooting not only at Logan as he drove off from the crime scene the night of the bridge incident that drove Veronica and Logan from us.

Weevil smiled as he told me how he got information from one of his boys who wanted revenge on the Fitzpatrick's for getting his younger brother caught up in selling drugs. The biker called on his friends to see if anyone fit the description of the unknown caller from the bridge. The man who still wanted to be left out of the situation had taken grainy, but proof no doubt of what both Veronica had said happened just as the video showed.

I too felt a smile tugging on the corner of my lips as I felt that I might be able to finally get a good night's sleep. I had to make sure that there was no way that Liam or his friends could get out of the new evidence found on them. No, I made sure everything was in order and that everything was just the way I would want them turned in. Lamb and Weevil both took their leave as I watched the two of them exit the office and shut my door before locking it. I went back into my office and grabbed all the evidence found tucked it into a fireproof pouch one of my few friends left at the fire department had given me.

"Where to put it?" I questioned to myself as I walked around the room. I looked everywhere I could think about to hide it in case Liam tried to find it, but couldn't find the right place. No, the only place I found to be safe enough was in the other room so I quickly went out to the outer part of the office and pulled on the fridge as I pulled on the panel where I knew the screws were lose to hide the evidence safely. Once I hid the items I quickly screwed the screws back and pushed the fridge back.

"Mr. Mars," came a familiar voice as I grabbed a bottle of water from the fridge.

"What is it?" I groaned softly as I came face to face with Wallace.

"Mom called me because you weren't answering your phone," he replied as he took a spot on the sofa as I went back into my office and gathered the reminder of some items I needed for a case I was working on. I put everything into my bag and found Wallace smiling as I exited the room.

"What's so funny?" I questioned as he smiled.

"I think it's funny how fast you get ready whenever anyone mentions my mom. I think you have it real bad for her. I don't totally agree since your daughter is my best-friend, but you make her happy," he countered as I nodded understanding his thought.

"I do care for her deeply. If I am to be honest she has helped me through this very disheartening ordeal with Veronica and Logan, I thank you for that," I said as he stood up.

"I do this out of care for Veronica as well. I don't like the idea of my mom dating anyone, but you are the only one I would want her to end up with. You make her happy as well," he said as he helped me turn out the lights in the office space. Wallace had been one of the people who wouldn't give up in making sure I did what I needed to do to get things to clear Veronica's name. Wallace was probably her only friend for the beginning of junior year as things really went bad for her. I would always be indebted to him for this reason.

***8888***

"Where have you two been?" Alicia says the moment Wallace and I walk through the kitchen door.

"Mr. Mars decided we needed to get some dessert," Wallace replied easily as I passed the pastries we had picked up to Alicia.

"That was a good thought. I hadn't actually thought about what to have. I did make dinner though so that should count," she said as I nodded my head. They were staying with me and Backup at the apartment because Alicia was having some work done at her house.

"It counts for everything," I said as I wrapped an arm around her waist. "I think things might be looking up," I murmured as I tightened my hold a little.

"So it was a productive afternoon," she questioned as I chuckled. It was hard to believe just how close we had gotten throughout this time. I am so thankful that Veronica made sure she was there when I woke up after Aaron's attack. If my daughter hadn't intervened and called Alicia after what Lianne had done I don't think I would have survived without my daughter.

"Lamb and Weevil were able to gather a few items that might prove very helpful in bringing some very loved and dear ones back," I said smiling as she just chuckled.

"Do you think she'd be okay with all of this?" Alicia questioned turning around to look at me.

"I don't think she's going to be concerned over our living arrangements because she'll probably be living with Logan," I said lowly as she raised an eyebrow at me.

"Is there something I haven't heard yet?" she countered as I smiled.

"Yes," I said turning around to pull some plates out of the cupboard. "Darrell, set the table. Wallace wash up and help out," I said as I moved away from Alicia.

"That isn't fair for you to say something like that and then change the subject," Alicia retorted a little hurt as I moved handing Darrell the plates.

"I'll explain it all over dinner," I countered heading to the bathroom to not only change, but wash up as well.

"Keith," Alicia called out as I finished wiping my hands on the towel I had been twisting in my hands. I walked out of the bathroom to the dining area that had been an unused kitchen table for so long.

"Coming," I replied as I made my way to the table. Alicia said grace and the plates were filled with food as I could feel her eyes on me I looked up.

"Mom," Darrell said allowing me more time to think. He told her about some project he needed to do and wanted to ask her questions about her job. She smiled as I laughed. Alicia's job was interesting but nothing as fun as what she did on a daily basis as a mom. She agreed to help him out after dinner.

"That was a good meal," I finally said as Alicia passed out the dessert.

"Yes, mom it was good," Wallace agreed as he knew just like I did that if it weren't for her none of us would eat as well as we do.

"I was talking with your mom before dinner, but didn't finish our conversation because I wanted to tell you all together. I have gotten some things that might help me to clear Veronica and Logan's name," I was still speaking as Wallace dropped his fork on the table.

"Seriously," he asked as I could see just how much this information lifted his spirit.

"Yes, I've had a few reliable people working more in-depth with what we had to gather more information. It seems we might have hit the mother lode. I haven't told any of you guys this, but if things work out Veronica probably won't be moving back with me though," I said a little sadly.

"Why wouldn't she?" Wallace questioned as I looked up as could tell Alicia had a thought of why but wasn't going to say anything without being sure. Wallace had been allowed a glimpse of her, but nothing more closely.

"Logan and Veronica have been together for some time and sometimes when things," I began to stumble over what to say.

"That bloody jackass," Wallace snapped as I looked toward the teenager. "I can't believe his self righteous pompous assed self," he continued as I looked to his mom who was staring at him mouth slightly opened. I just started to laugh as he looked toward me. He surely knew her more than I did at the moment.

"Keith," Alicia admonished as I nodded.

"Veronica and Logan will probably stay living at the condo where they are currently living at. I felt it was safer for Meg to be there with them as well and since Logan has been able to keep a tight rein on Veronica I thought it might be good to have him keep one on Meg as well. I would expect that Veronica is probably four months along, but is doing good," I said as Alicia placed her hands on her lips.

"I knew you sent Meg somewhere, but I wouldn't have thought that. Is Veronica really?" she questioned as I nodded my head passing the only picture I had of my granddaughter.

"A little girl," I said as Darrell groaned.

"Why not a boy?" he questioned as we all started laughing. I was thankful that this would be my life. Yes, I could take a sigh of relief knowing things seemed to be going the right way now. I just needed to keep things on track and maybe it would all fall into place.

***LoVe***

 **Logan**

It had been a few weeks since Meg had come to stay with us and it was both fun and misery for me. I thought things would be all funs and games, but maybe I should have thought just how much work two pregnant women were. Veronica on her own I could handle without much work because we seemed to know just what each other needed, but with the added person it was hard to tell. Veronica and Meg both seemed more in tune with each other than we were now days. Yes, my two women were more alike than I would like to say. Yet, I wouldn't trade either one of them for anything in the world.

"Hey," I heard Veronica whisper as I moved to lay back down after taking Rosie out for her early morning bathroom break.

"Did I wake you?" I questioned as I leaned down to kiss her on the forehead before pulling her closer to me.

"No, I had to get up to use the bathroom. It seems like someone is sitting on my bladder right now," she mumbled as I smiled when she leaned closer into me.

"How are you feeling other than the little one taking up space?" I questioned as I moved a little when I felt her cold feet move under my legs.

"I honestly am happy. I can't explain it, but I am truly happy for once," she replied as I turned to look at her more directly.

"Me too," I said kissing her nose. I knew things weren't perfect, but we both had agreed to be honest with one and another and this was progress. I wanted to just keep Veronica wrapped up all day in this bed with me, but I knew there was another pesky blonde lurking somewhere in the house and wasn't about to let her out of my sight either. "Come on, let's get up and go downstairs. I would hate for Meg to find us in here without her," I joked as Veronica went to smack me but I had jumped up quickly.

"Did I wake you guys up?" Meg questions as she turns from her seat on the sofa as we enter the living room area. I could smell the sweet aroma of hot cocoa so I turn for the kitchen to get Veronica a cup before she began rummaging in the cupboards for coffee. She was having a difficult time giving it up.

"No, Logan's spawn woke me up to use the bathroom," Veronica replied as she sat down beside of Meg. "How was your night?' she countered questioned.

"Rough, I don't know how anyone can get comfortable with someone sitting on your bladder," Meg said as I handed Veronica a cup of cocoa.

"I don't know about the rest of my race, but ladies please remember I take care of you," I softly replied as I turned the TV as I sat down beside of Veronica as she placed her hand on my leg.

"I don't know about Meg, but I couldn't do half of the things I need to do without you," Veronica joked as I laughed.

"Right," I muttered as my gaze stopped on the screen. The news was telling about an early morning fire that seemed to be centered on one downtown building. I felt Veronica digging her nails into my leg as the building the newscaster was talking about came into focus.


End file.
